Choroidal structural changes and choroidal vascularity index in patients with systemic hypertension

To assess the impact of systemic hypertension on the choroidal structure and choroidal vascularity index (CVI).

This prospective cross-sectional study comprised 50 eyes of 50 treatment-naive hypertensive patients and 50 eyes of 50 healthy subjects. Choroidal thickness (CT) was measured in the subfoveal region, 1500 µm nasal to the fovea, and 1500 µm temporal to the fovea. Binarization of the enhanced depth-optical coherence tomography images was performed with Image-J software. The CT, choroidal area (CA), luminal area (LA), and CVI were compared statistically.

The mean subfoveal, nasal, and temporal CT were decreased in the patient group (p 0.003, 0.026, and 0.001, respectively). The mean CA, LA, and CVI were decreased in the patient group in comparison to controls (p = 0.047, 0.009, and 0.016 respectively). The correlation between the subfoveal CT and systolic blood pressure was significant (r = -0.450, p < 0.001). There was a significant correlation between the systolic blood pressure and CVI (r = -0.401, p < 0.001).

The significant decrease in the structural parameters and CVI show that choroid is affected in patients with treatment-naive hypertension.