Abstract
BackgroundTo investigate the difference in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, choroidal thickness (CT) and superficial retinal vessels between thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) patients and healthy controls. To identify the potential influencing factors for these parameters and evaluate their diagnostic abilities in TAO.MethodsTwenty active TAO patients, 33 inactive TAO patients and 29 healthy participants were enrolled. TAO patients were divided according to the clinical activity score (CAS). RNFL thickness and CT were measured by HD-OCT, while foveal avascular zone (FAZ), vascular density and perfusion density were measured by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). SPSS software was used for statistical analysis.ResultsActive TAO patients had thinner RNFL thickness than the other two groups (P < 0.001, P < 0.001). Both active and inactive TAO patients had significantly higher CT in the macular region (all P < 0.05). The FAZ area in the active TAO group was significantly larger than the other two groups (P = 0.045, P = 0.001). The inactive TAO group had significantly higher vascular density than the other two groups (all P < 0.05). With regard to the perfusion density, significant differences were observed in the temporal and inferior areas (P = 0.045, P = 0.001), as well as the average values (P = 0.032). The FAZ area was positively correlated with intraocular pressure (r = 0.274, P = 0.013), while it was negatively correlated with axial length (r = − 0.344, P = 0.002). The vascular density and perfusion density were not significantly correlated with different clinical variables (all P > 0.05). The AUC analysis indicated these parameters also exhibited a significant discriminatory power in TAO diagnosis.ConclusionsTAO patients had significant variations in RNFL thickness, choroidal thickness, FAZ area and superficial retinal vessels. These parameters appeared to be potential adjuncts in the evaluation of TAO patients.
Highlights
To investigate the difference in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, choroidal thickness (CT) and superficial retinal vessels between thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) patients and healthy controls
We aimed to explore their correlations with different ocular parameters and investigate their clinical diagnostic capability when comparing with healthy controls
There were no significant differences in age, sex distributions, axial length (AL) and Central corneal thickness (CCT) among the three groups (P = 0.339, P = 0.121, P = 0.100, P = 0.633, respectively)
Summary
To investigate the difference in retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, choroidal thickness (CT) and superficial retinal vessels between thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) patients and healthy controls. Thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) is a systemic autoimmune disorder or an organ-specific autoimmune inflammatory disease of orbital tissues. It is characterized by inflammatory cellular infiltration with lymphocytes, plasma cells, macrophages and mast cells. TAO can be classified into the following phases: an active phase with rapid progression and an inactive phase with symptom stabilization [5, 6]. Approximately 3–5% of TAO patients in an inactive state will transit to an active state, which may result in aggravation of proptosis, lid retraction, dysfunctional eye motility, or even vision loss due to optic nerve compression [7, 8]
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