Choroidal Thickness in Patients with Graves' Ophthalmopathy

The purpose of the study is to compare choroidal thickness (CT) in patients with active and inactive Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) and that in healthy subjects by using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

We conducted an observational, cross-sectional study of 28, 48, and 74 eyes of 14 patients with active GO (group 1), 24 patients with inactive GO (group 2), and 37 age-matched healthy subjects (group 3), respectively. Activity of GO was assessed by using initial clinical activity score (CAS). CT was measured by using SD-OCT. The differences in CT among the groups were compared, and the factors affecting subfoveal CT were analyzed.

The mean subfoveal CT was significantly greater in group 1 (395.84 ± 9.68 µm) than that in group 2 and group 3 (319.76 ± 7.07 µm and 314.22 ± 5.74 µm, respectively; p < 0.001) after adjusting for age, axial length, and intraocular pressure (IOP). Subfoveal CT was positively correlated with CAS (p < 0.001; r = 0.567). In multivariate analysis, thicker subfoveal CT was associated with younger age (p < 0.001; correlation coefficient B, -1.67; 95% CI, -2.57 to -0.78); disease activity (p < 0.001; correlation coefficient B, 95.28; 95% CI, 73.14-117.43); and lower IOP ((p < 0.001; correlation coefficient B, -4.09; 95% CI, -8.03 to -0.15).

To our knowledge, this is the first study showing that the mean subfoveal CT increases in patients with active GO. Subfoveal CT may be a useful parameter to monitor disease activity.