Macular Choroidal Thickening in Keratoconus Patients: Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Study.

PURPOSE

To determine the choroidal thickness (CT) profile in keratoconus (KC) patients using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).

METHODS

This was a prospective, cross-sectional study. One hundred two eyes of 52 KC patients were studied using Pentacam and SS-OCT. The macular CT profile was created by manually measuring the distance between the retinal pigment epithelium and the choroid-sclera junction on horizontal b-scans at nine different macular locations. The results were compared to 93 eyes of 93 healthy controls.

RESULTS

Mean age of the KC group was 34.9 ± 13.5 years and mean axial length (AL) was 24.1 ± 1.3 mm. Mean topographic KC classification (TKC) was 2.0; 39 eyes were classified as early KC (TKC <1-2), 34 eyes as moderate (TKC 2, 2-3), and 29 as advanced (TKC 3+). Mean subfoveal CT was 383.2 μm in KC patients and 280.5 μm in control group ( < 0.001). CT in KC patients was statistically thicker in all measure locations ( < 0.001). CT in KC eyes decreased with age, approaching control group at >45 years old, losing statistical significance ( = 0.37).

CONCLUSIONS

CT in KC patients is statistically thicker than in healthy population. After age 45, CT decreases approaching control group values.

TRANSLATIONAL RELEVANCE

This study describes changes in the CT profile of KC patients, a disease that was considered purely corneal. These choroidal changes argue that KC is a disease that likely involves several ocular structures other than the cornea, and could open new research lines related to the pathophysiology of KC.