CHOROIDAL THICKNESS IN UNILATERAL IDIOPATHIC MACULAR HOLE: A Cross-Sectional Study and Meta-Analysis

To investigate the choroidal thickness in unilateral idiopathic macular hole (IMH) eyes and compare them with normal control eyes using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

In this cross-sectional study, the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and choroidal thickness at 1 mm and 3 mm nasal, temporal, superior, and inferior to the fovea of IMH eyes and normal control eyes were measured using EDI-OCT. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to evaluate the correlation between choroidal thickness at various locations and clinical factors. A meta-analysis was conducted using the Stata software package to calculate the summary of weighted mean differences (WMDs).

Thirty-two unilateral IMH patients and 32 controls were enrolled in this study. The IMH eyes had a thinner choroid than the control eyes at all macular locations (all P < 0.001). Multivariate linear regression analysis further showed that the choroidal thickness at any of the nine points was significantly thinner in association with the IMH diagnosis, as well as being somewhat thinner in association with age and axial length. The result of our cross-sectional study was consistent with the meta-analysis with a pooled WMD of -56.99 (95% confidence interval [CI]: -68.58 to -45.41) for subfoveal choroidal thickness.

The study of Chinese unilateral IMH patients, along with the comprehensive meta-analysis, suggested that the choroidal thickness at all macular locations in unilateral IMH eyes significantly decreased relative to the control group.