The Association Between Choroidal Thickness and Meniere's Disease: A Cross-Sectional Study

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Otorhinolaryngology

Background:

• Meniere's disease (MD) is a disorder of the inner ear.
• Choroidal thickness (CT) is a potential indicator of ocular and systemic health.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare choroidal thickness (CT) in patients with Meniere's disease (MD) versus healthy controls.
• To investigate the relationship between MD duration and specific choroidal measurements.

Main Methods:

• A case-control study involving 37 MD patients and 37 healthy controls.
• Enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) was used to measure subfoveal CT, large choroidal vessel (LCV) layer thickness, and the LCV/SCT ratio.
• Measurements were taken in ipsilateral, contralateral, and control eyes.

Main Results:

• Patients with MD showed statistically significant differences in mean subfoveal CT compared to controls (p=0.04).
• Significant differences were also found in mean subfoveal LCV thickness and the LCV/SCT ratio between MD patients and controls (p=0.006 and p<0.001, respectively).
• A longer disease duration (>3 years) was associated with a higher LCV/SCT ratio, though this was not statistically significant (p=0.08).

Conclusions:

• Meniere's disease is associated with a thicker choroid and Haller layer, and an increased subfoveal LCV/SCT ratio compared to controls.
• Findings suggest potential neurovascular involvement in MD pathophysiology.
• Further research is needed to confirm the association between CT and MD.