Choroidal structural changes in airline pilots and cabin crew

To analyze the differences in terms of choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and choroidal thickness (CT) between the airline pilots-cabin crew and the normal population.

In this prospective study, 50 airline pilots-cabin crew (study group) and 50 healthy individuals (control group) were included for comparison. For each participant, one eye, the eye with the higher OCT scan score index, was enrolled. Subfoveal CT and CVI were measured using a spectral-domain optical coherence tomography system with enhanced depth imaging.

There were no significant differences in terms of age and sex between the study and control groups. The mean CT was 368.5 ± 79.6 in the control group vs. 424.9 ± 80.7 in the study group (p = 0.001). CT was significantly thicker in the study group. The mean CVI was 64.3 ± 1.5 in the control group and 66 ± 3.1 in the study group (p = 0.5). There was no significant correlation between the study and control groups in terms of CVI.

Airline pilots-cabin crew had thicker CT, but there were no differences in CVI when they were compared with healthy subjects. The effect of unique occupational exposures of airline pilots-cabin crew to the pathophysiology of choroidal structural alterations needs further investigation.