CHOROIDAL THICKNESS CHANGES IN ACUTE ZONAL OCCULT OUTER RETINOPATHY.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Diseases
• Choroidal Imaging

Background:

• Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) is an inflammatory condition affecting the outer retina.
• Longitudinal morphologic changes in AZOOR, particularly in the choroid, are not well understood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the longitudinal morphologic changes of the choroid in eyes diagnosed with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR).

Main Methods:

• Retrospective observational case series of 10 patients (11 eyes) with unilateral AZOOR.
• Enhanced depth optical coherence tomography (ED-OCT) used for follow-up exceeding 12 months.
• Measurement of retinal and choroidal thicknesses (CTs) at six macular sites.

Main Results:

• Ellipsoid zone integrity loss observed nasally in all affected eyes at baseline.
• Affected eyes showed significantly thinner mean total retinal thickness nasal to the fovea.
• Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) in affected eyes gradually decreased during follow-up, with significant reduction at multiple macular sites by 12 months.

Conclusions:

• Subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) in eyes with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR) demonstrates a progressive decrease during the follow-up period.
• These findings highlight potential structural remodeling of the choroid in AZOOR over time.