Abstract
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) has made it possible for clinicians to measure the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) noninvasively in various ocular diseases. However, the ocular factors associated with the ppCT have not been conclusively determined. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between the local ppCT and the axial length, optic disc tilt, and the angle of the papillo-macular position (PMP) in healthy eyes. This was a prospective, observational cross-sectional study of 119 right eyes of 119 healthy Japanese volunteers. The ppCT was manually measured at eight sectors around the optic disc using the B-scan images of the Topcon 3D OCT RNFL 3.4 mm circle scan. The trajectory of the retinal pigment epithelium in the B-scan image was fitted to a sine curve using ImageJ, and the amplitude of the sine curve was used to determine the degree of the optic disc tilt. The PMP angle was determined in the color fundus photographs. The relationships between the ppCT and the axial length, the optic disc tilt, and PMP angle were determined by Spearman and multiple correlation analyses. The mean age was 25.8 ± 3.9 years and the mean axial length was 25.5 ± 1.4 mm. The ppCT was significantly and negatively associated with the axial length (R = -0.43 to -0.24, P<0.01) and positively associated with the PMP angle (R = 0.28 to 0.37, P<0.01) in all eight circumpapillary sectors. The temporal and infratemporal ppCTs were significantly and negatively associated with the optic disc tilt (R = -0.31, -0.20, P<0.05). The results of multiple regression analyses were similar to that of Spearman correlation analysis. In conclusion, the axial length and PMP angle can affect the ppCT in all circumferential sectors, however the tilt of the optic disc is correlated with only some of the sectors. This should be remembered in interpreting the ppCT.
Highlights
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging technique that can be used to determine the morphology of the retina, choroid, and optic disc with micrometer resolution [1]
Lin et al [21] reported that the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) is decreased in eyes with glaucoma, while Wang et al [13] reported that the ppCT is not altered in eyes with glaucoma
The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Kagoshima University Hospital, and it was registered with the University Hospital Medical Network (UMIN)-clinical trials registry
Summary
Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging technique that can be used to determine the morphology of the retina, choroid, and optic disc with micrometer resolution [1]. The images obtained by OCT can be used to quantify the thickness of the different retinal and choroidal layers which can be used to assess the pathophysiology of normal and diseased eyes. OCT has been used to measure the peripapillary choroidal thickness (ppCT) in various ocular diseases [12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24,25]. Because the peripapillary area is believed to be the area most affected in glaucoma and myopia, the ppCT has been studied extensively in these ocular conditions. Lin et al [21] reported that the ppCT is decreased in eyes with glaucoma, while Wang et al [13] reported that the ppCT is not altered in eyes with glaucoma
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