Evaluation of the Macular Choroidal Thickness Using Spectral Optical Coherence Tomography in Pseudoexfoliation Glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the choroidal thickness (CT) in pseudoexfoliative (PEX) glaucoma and age-matched healthy subjects using spectral optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

Patients and methods: In this prospective study, 32 eyes of 32 PEX glaucoma patients and 30 eyes of 30 age-matched healthy subjects were enrolled. The CT is measured perpendicularly (from the outer edge of the hyperreflective retinal pigment epithelium to the inner sclera) at the fovea, and 1.5 mm temporal, 3.0 mm temporal, 1.5 mm nasal, and 3.0 mm nasal to the fovea using SD-OCT (RTVue-100).

Results: The groups were similar regarding the mean age and axial length values (both, P>0.05). The CT measurements were 182.12 ± 39.88 and 201.56 ± 32.00 μm at 1.5 mm nasal to the fovea (P=0.039), and 126.47 ± 32.12 and 146.60 ± 31.37 μm at 3.0 mm nasal to the fovea (P=0.015) in the PEX glaucoma and control groups, respectively. There were no significant differences in the subfoveal and temporal CT measurements among the 2 groups (all, P>0.05).

Conclusions: The findings of this study indicate that PEX glaucoma causes significant thinning in the nasal choroid. Thus, measuring the CT with SD-OCT may be the way of better clarification of the relationship between PEX and glaucomatous optic neuropathy.