Clinical observation of macular choroidal thickness in primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma

Abstract

Purpose: To comparatively analyze differences in macular choroidal thickness and volume in primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma (PACG) eyes.

Methods: Thirty-one PACG patients were sequentially selected for this case-control study. Thirty-one eyes with PACG were included in group A, 31 fellow eyes were included in group B, and group C included 67 normal eyes. Enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) was used to measure choroidal thickness and volume.

Results: The choroidal thicknesses and volumes of the central subfield macula (CSM), nasal inner macula (NIM), temporal inner macula (TIM), inferior inner macula (IIM), temporal outer macula (TOM), inferior outer macula (IOM), and mean macula (MM) in group A were all higher than those in group C (P < 0.05). The choroidal thicknesses and volumes of the NIM, superior inner macula (SIM), IIM, nasal outer macula (NOM), and MM in group B were all higher than those in group C (P < 0.05). No statistically significant differences were found between groups A and B (P > 0.05). The choroidal thicknesses of different macular regions in group A were not correlated with the mean defect (MD).

Conclusion: Increased macular choroidal thickness may be a common anatomical characteristic of PACD eyes. Macular choroidal thickness is not a good marker for assessing PACG severity.

Keywords: Choroidal thickness; Choroidal volume; Optical coherence tomography; Primary chronic angle-closure glaucoma.