Choroidal Vascularity Index and Choroidal Structural Changes in Children With Nephrotic Syndrome

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Pediatrics
• Nephrology

Background:

• Nephrotic syndrome can lead to systemic complications.
• Choroidal structural changes are not well understood in pediatric nephrotic syndrome.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and choroidal structural changes in children with nephrotic syndrome.
• To correlate CVI with clinical parameters of nephrotic syndrome.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 45 children with nephrotic syndrome and 40 controls.
• Enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) used for choroidal imaging.
• Deep learning-based automatic segmentation for choroidal volume (CV), vascular volume (VV), and CVI calculation.

Main Results:

• Children with nephrotic syndrome had significantly increased CV (P=0.024) but no significant change in VV (P=0.971).
• A significant decrease in CVI was observed in children with nephrotic syndrome compared to controls (P<0.001).
• CVI correlated positively with serum proteins and 24-hour urine volume, and negatively with lipids and urinary protein indicators.

Conclusions:

• The choroidal vascularity index (CVI) is significantly reduced in children with nephrotic syndrome.
• Decreased CVI correlates with kidney disease severity, suggesting choroidal involvement.