Changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness associated with uveitis activity in patients with Behçet's disease

Abstract

Aims: To evaluate the efficacy of measuring subfoveal choroidal thickness in monitoring uveitis activity before and after treatment with infliximab in patients with Behçet's disease (BD)-associated uveitis.

Methods: Thirteen patients with BD (23 eyes) were selected for this retrospective observational case study. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was measured during active and remission phases of uveitis by enhanced depth imaging-spectral domain optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). In five patients (10 eyes), choroidal thickness was assessed at weeks 0, 2, 6 and 14 after the initiation of infliximab treatment.

Results: Accompanied by excessive dye leakage from choroidal vessels on indocyanine green angiography, dilation of choroidal vessels was observed in the active phase of uveitis by EDI-OCT and the choroidal thickness was significantly greater than that in the remission phase. Treatment with infliximab significantly reduced the choroidal thickness from week 2 after the first infusion, and the reduced choroidal thickness was maintained thereafter. No correlation was found between choroidal thickness and best corrected visual acuity converted to logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution, but choroidal thickness correlated significantly with anterior and posterior ocular inflammation scores.

Conclusions: This study indicates that measurement of subfoveal choroidal thickness by EDI-OCT is useful for evaluating the activity of uveitis and the therapeutic efficacy in patients with BD.

Keywords: Imaging; Inflammation.