Relationship between Choroidal Thickness and Visual Field Impairment in Acute Zonal Occult Outer Retinopathy

To evaluate sequential changes in choroidal thickness at the affected area in patients with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR).

This retrospective observational case series included 14 affected eyes and 6 unaffected fellow eyes from 10 AZOOR patients with impaired macular area. Using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography, choroidal thicknesses at the subfovea and at nasal and temporal sites 1000 μm away from the fovea were manually measured at baseline and 3 and 6 months thereafter. Changes in the choroidal thicknesses and the average threshold at the affected area on Humphrey perimetry were compared during the 6-month follow-up.

In AZOOR eyes, the average threshold at the affected area significantly increased over time, while outer retinal structure ameliorated. The mean choroidal thicknesses at all the sites measured significantly decreased at 3 and 6 months compared with baseline values in AZOOR eyes, but not in fellow eyes. There was an inverse correlation between the changing rates of the average threshold and the subfoveal choroidal thickness at 6 months from baseline.

The current data suggest that choroidal thickness at AZOOR-affected area significantly decreased with regression of AZOOR and this anatomical change correlated with the functional recovery.