Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate changes in choroidal thickness (CT) in advanced or late-stage primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG) patients who had undergone trabeculectomy.
Methods: This study included 23 eyes with PACG that required trabeculectomy. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography was used to measure CT before and 7 days after trabeculectomy. The relationships between changes in CT and changes in IOP and axial length were explored.
Results: At all nine macular locations, CT was significantly higher after trabeculectomy, with the exception of two sites. CT at locations close to the macula exhibited a greater increase after surgery (except for the inferior location), although there were no significant differences compared to locations farther from the macula. The mean CTs (± SD) under the fovea before and after the surgery were 282.3 (± 42.4) μm and 311.6 (± 59.9) μm, respectively. The mean IOP (± SD) decreased from 25.9 (± 11.0) mm Hg to 11.8 (± 3.2) mm Hg (without antiglaucoma medications), which positively related to the shortened axial length after surgery (P = 0.019). However, the changes in CT were not correlated with either IOP or axial length.
Conclusions: Short-term CT increased following trabeculectomy in PACG, but it was not related to decreased IOP or shortened axial length. The potential role for and significance of CT increase after trabeculectomy remains to be interpreted.
Keywords: axial length; choroidal thickness; intraocular pressure; trabeculectomy.