Choroidal vascular characteristics in anisometropic amblyopia: a comparative analysis

The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the choroidal characteristics in anisometropic amblyopia.

This prospective study included individuals with myopic (n = 20) and hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia (n = 30), with their respective fellow eyes and age-matched control eyes. Total choroidal area (TCA), luminal choroidal area (LCA), stromal choroidal area, and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) were calculated in the subfoveal region. Choriocapillaris vessel density (VD) in macular and peripapillary regions was assessed using optical coherence tomography angiography.

The study involved 50 participants with anisometropic amblyopia (mean age 28.44 ± 14.73 years) and 50 age-matched controls. Hyperopic amblyopic eyes had significantly wider LCAs than fellow eyes (p = 0.035) and control eyes (p = 0.048), while the opposite was observed in myopic eyes (p = 0.004 compared to fellow eyes; p = 0.032 compared to control eyes). The CVI showed no significant differences between amblyopic and fellow eyes or between amblyopic and control eyes in both hyperopic and myopic groups (p > 0.05 for both). However, the myopic group exhibited significantly narrower TCA (p = 0.036) and LCA (p = 0.008) than the hyperopic group. Hyperopic eyes demonstrated lower inferior peripapillary VD and higher nasal peripapillary VD compared to fellow eyes (p = 0.007 for both) and control eyes (p = 0.023 and p = 0.014, respectively), with myopic eyes showing no significant inter-eye differences (p > 0.05 for both). Myopic amblyopic eyes had higher inferior peripapillary VD than hyperopic eyes (p = 0.018).

The CVI and macular VD values showed no significant differences between amblyopic and fellow eyes in both groups. However, a difference was observed in peripapillary VDs. This suggests that the peripapillary region may be affected earlier than the macular region in anisometropic amblyopia.