Relationship between choroidal structure and duration of diabetes

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Diabetology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Diabetes mellitus (DM) can affect ocular structures even before diabetic retinopathy (DR) is clinically evident.
• Investigating early choroidal changes in diabetic patients is crucial for understanding disease progression.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the relationship between choroidal structure and diabetes duration in patients without DR.
• To identify potential biomarkers for early detection of diabetic-related choroidal changes.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective observational study comparing 105 diabetic eyes (DM) without DR to 117 non-diabetic control eyes.
• DM eyes were categorized into short (<10 years) and long (≥10 years) duration groups.
• Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) and binarization methods were used to analyze choroidal structure.

Main Results:

• Diabetic eyes showed a significantly lower lumina/total choroidal (L/C) ratio compared to control eyes (P=0.02).
• The L/C ratio was significantly lower in the long duration DM group than in the short duration group (P=0.03).
• No significant differences were found in total choroidal area, lumina/stroma area, or central choroidal thickness (CCT) between groups.

Conclusions:

• Choroidal vasculature is affected in diabetic eyes, with structural changes correlating with diabetes duration.
• The L/C ratio is a potential novel biomarker for monitoring choroidal vascular changes in diabetic eyes, even in the absence of DR.