The choroidal structure changes in a case with hypertensive choroidopathy

The aim of this study is to report clinical course and provide novel ophthalmic findings by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in a patient with hypertensive choroidopathy secondary to hypertensive disorders of pregnancy (HDP).

A 27-year-old woman, who was diagnosed HDP complicated with disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), noticed abnormality of color vision and metamorphopsia in her right eye, a half day after an emergency cesarean delivery. Fundus examinations showed developing serous retinal detachment (SRD) from superior hemisphere to the posterior pole in her right eye. Then, fluorescein angiography (FA) showed some granular leakages from the areas above the optic disc in her right eye and around the optic disc in her left eye. Indocyanine green angiography (IA) also showed choroidal hypoperfusion during the early-phase and choroidal hyperpermeability during the mid-phase in the same areas of leakages in FA. SD-OCT also showed posterior SRD in her right eye and peripapillary flat SRD in her left eye, and enhanced depth imaging OCT (EDI-OCT) revealed increased choroidal thickness. SRD gradually disappeared and her symptoms improved during observation with appropriate treatment for hypertension and resolution of DIC. Moreover, increased choroidal thickness in right eye improved in the only areas showing abnormal angiography findings, but subfoveal choroidal thickness in both eyes did not change over the clinical course.

Our case shows that hypertensive choroidopathy with developing SRD and visual disorder in the patient with HDP, can be improved by appropriate treatment for general state. Moreover, SD-OCT shows a new finding that increased choroidal thickness improved in the abnormal angiography areas earlier than SRD was completely disappeared. OCT may be a useful module to evaluate the changes in the choroidal structures for diagnosis and follow-up in a patient with hypertensive choroidopathy.