Does Acute Primary Angle-Closure Cause an Increased Choroidal Thickness?

Abstract

We compared the choroidal thickness of the eyes of patients with acute primary angle-closure (APAC) with fellow eyes in the same patients. The analysis included 21 participants with unilateral APAC affected eyes and 21 fellow eyes with a diagnosis of primary angle-closure suspect (PACS). Enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) was used to measure the macular and peripapillary retinal and choroidal thickness in both eyes. The average choroidal thickness of the APAC eyes at each location or segment was compared to that of the fellow eyes. At all macular locations, the choroidal thickness was greatest at the subfovea for both groups. Comparison of the choroidal thickness between the groups showed that the thickness in the APAC eyes was significantly greater than in the PACS eyes at all locations except at 1 mm, 3 mm superior, 3 mm inferior, and 3 mm temporal from the fovea (P < 0.005). The mean subfoveal choroidal thickness was 349.0 ± 78.1 μm in the APAC eyes and 308.1 ± 70.5 μm in the PACS eyes, with a statistically significant difference (P < 0.005). Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that the subfoveal choroidal thickness was significantly greater in association with the APAC diagnosis and diastolic blood pressure and thinner in association with older subjects. APAC eyes have a higher level of macular choroidal thickness than PACS eyes when the IOP is reduced. However, the source of this difference is unclear and must be investigated further.