Choroidal vascularity analysis in patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis without acute uveitis

We aimed to investigate choroidal involvement and the degree of anterior chamber inflammation in a cohort of patients with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) without clinical signs of active uveitis and to compare it with healthy controls (HC).

Enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) scans of 21 patients diagnosed with JIA and 22 HC of equal age were acquired. Images were binarised to measure subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT), nasal choroidal thickness (NCT), temporal choroidal thickness (TCT), total choroidal area (TCA), luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA) and choroidal vascular index (CVI). Patients also underwent a measurement of the degree of inflammation in the anterior chamber by laser flare meter (LFM).

No significant differences were found in the choroidal thickness in the subfoveal region (p=0.274), nasally to the fovea (p=0.568) and temporally to the fovea (p=0.430) between JIA patients and HC. No statistically significant difference in the choroidal area (TCA, LA and SA) between the JIA patients and HC were found. Moreover, CVI was not significantly different between the two groups (p=0.166), while the LFM of the JIA patients and HC (p=0.002) revealed a statistically significant difference.

In the absence of active uveitis, choroidal thickness and vascularity are not significantly different in JIA patients and HC.