Choroidal thickness in convalescent vogt-koyanagi-harada disease.

PURPOSE

To evaluate the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT) at the convalescent stage of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease and to investigate the correlations among SCT, the presence of the sunset glow fundus, and size of the peripapillary atrophy (PPA).

METHODS

The medical records of consecutive patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease without active intraocular inflammation were reviewed, and one eye was randomly chosen for analyses. The disease duration was more than 3 years. Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography was performed to measure SCT. The area of PPA was measured using the PDT/MPS software. Sunset glow fundi were classified into two groups according to the degree of depigmentation.

RESULTS

Nineteen eyes with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease were studied. The mean SCT of 12 eyes with severe sunset glow fundus was 144 ± 72 μm which was thinner than that of the 7 eyes with no or mild depigmentation (P = 0.0057). The SCT was inversely correlated with the disease duration (P = 0.048) and the PPA area (P = 0.0002). The PPA area was positively correlated with the disease duration (P = 0.007).

CONCLUSION

The thinner choroid and larger PPA areas were correlated with the degree of depigmentation or disease duration and might be caused by latent choroidal inflammation in the convalescent stage of Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.