Subfoveal choroidal thickness and volume in severe internal carotid artery stenosis patients

To demonstrate the differences of retinal and choroidal structure changes in internal carotid artery (ICA) patients of China by enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).

A retrospective review was conducted of 46 patients with a diagnosis of ICA stenosis greater than 65% on only one side (the opposite ICA Stenosis had less than 40% stenosis) from June 2015 through June 2016. All of the patients were combined with amaurosis fugax, but without any abnormality with other ocular examination. Thickness and volume of choroid and retina were manually measured by EDI-OCT. Differences were compared between ICA stenosis eyes and fellow eyes.

There were no significant differences in the retinal thickness, macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL) thickness, inner thickness, or outer retinal thickness between the ICA Stenosis group and the control group (P=0.834, 0.187, 0.552, and 0.903, respectively). The mean central choroidal thickness of the ICA Stenosis group was significantly lower than that of the control group (239.70±23.76 µm vs 257.46±22.13 µm, P<0.001). The percentage of ICA stenosis was significantly associated with the central choroidal thickness, central retinal thickness, foveal center choroidal volume, and foveal center retinal volume (r=0.854, 0.678, 0.729, and 0.785, respectively; P<0.001). There were no significant differences in the retinal and choroidal volume values in the 4 inner and 4 outer sectors between the two groups.

The choroidal thickness in severe ICA stenosis eyes is lower than in fellow eyes. The choroidal thinning may occur before the retinal changes in patients with ocular ischemic syndrome. Evaluations of choroidal thickness may be useful to choose the optimal therapeutic schedule for ICA patients.