Choroidal changes in pre-eclampsia during pregnancy and the postpartum period: comparison with healthy pregnancy

To investigate subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in patients with pre-eclampsia using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

A sample of 73 pregnant women was studied over 28 weeks of gestation. The sample was divided into two groups: one comprising pre-eclamptic pregnant women (n=32), and the other comprising healthy pregnant women (n=41). The SFCT was determined for all patients using EDI-OCT during pregnancy and at the third month of the postpartum period.

The SFCTs in pre-eclamptic pregnant women were 351.97 ± 22.44 and 332.28 ± 20.32 µm during the pregnancy and postpartum periods (p<0.001), respectively, whereas these values in healthy pregnant women were 389.73 ± 49.64 and 329.78 ± 22.36 µm (p<0.001), respectively. During pregnancy SFCT in pre-eclamptic pregnant women was significantly thinner than that in healthy pregnant women (p<0.001). However, there was no statistically significant difference during the postpartum period (p=0.623).

The results suggest that SFCT is significantly decreased in pre-eclamptic pregnant women than in healthy pregnant women, despite no statistically significant difference in SFCT existing between the groups during the postpartum period.