Abstract
Objective
To investigate the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in patients with thyroid-associated
ophthalmopathy (TAO) and its relationship with clinical features and clinical activity
score
Methods
Right eyes of 53 patients with TAO and 53 healthy subjects were scanned for subfoveal
choroidal thickness (SFCT), CVI, choroid-stromal area (C-SA), choroid-luminal area
(C-LA), choroidal stromal index (CSI), choroid-stromal-to-luminal-area ratio, and
CVI and CSI within the central 1500 µm of the macula (CVI1500 and CSI1500) by enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography. The results of the TAO group
and the healthy controls were compared.
Results
The SFCT was significantly greater in the TAO group than in the control group (p = 0.02). The values of C-LA, C-SA, and total choroidal area (TCA) in the TAO group
were significantly higher than those in the control group (p = 0.01, p = 0.04, and p = 0.01, respectively). The increases in SFCT, C-LA, C-SA, and TCA were 12.1%, 12.2%,
16.2%, and 13.6%, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference
between the groups for CVI, CSI, CVI1500, CSI1500, and choroid-stromal-to-luminal-area ratio (p > 0.05). CVI1500 and CSI1500 have displayed a statistically significant correlation with exophthalmometry and
clinical activity score (p < 0.05).
Conclusion
The alterations in stromal and vascular structures are proportionally similar in TAO;
thus CVI may not be affected significantly. However, CVI1500 and CSI1500 may be associated with disease activity. The choroidal thickening in TAO may be the
result not only of vascular mechanisms but also by an increase in stromal contents.
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Article Info
Publication History
Published online: July 26, 2021
Accepted:
June 28,
2021
Received in revised form:
May 15,
2021
Received:
December 23,
2020
Publication stage
In Press Corrected ProofIdentification
Copyright
© 2021 Canadian Ophthalmological Society. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
