Choroidal vascularity index in hereditary optic neuropathies

• Published in: Eye (London) Vol. 37; no. 13; pp. 2679 - 2684
• Main Authors: Battista, Marco, Cascavilla, Maria Lucia, Borrelli, Enrico, Barresi, Costanza, Lari, Giorgio, Caporali, Leonardo, Viganò, Chiara, Berni, Alessandro, Carelli, Valerio, Bandello, Francesco, Barboni, Piero
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.09.2023; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 59; 692/1807/1482; 692/699/3161/3165; Acuity; Atrophy; Choroid; Eye; Humans; Laboratory Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Mutation; Ophthalmology; Optic atrophy; Optic Atrophy, Autosomal Dominant; Optic neuropathy; Optics; Patients; Pharmaceutical Sciences/Technology; Retrospective Studies; Statistical analysis; Surgery; Surgical Oncology; Systemic diseases; Tomography; Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods; Visual acuity
• ISSN: 0950-222X; 1476-5454; 1476-5454
• DOI: 10.1038/s41433-023-02383-5

Purpose To assess the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in patients affected by Leber hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) compared to patients affected by dominant optic atrophy (DOA) and healthy subjects. Methods In this retrospective study, we considered three cohorts: LHON eyes (48), DOA eyes (48) and healthy subjects’ eyes (48). All patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) acquisition. OCT parameters as subfoveal choroidal thickness (Sub-F ChT), mean choroidal thickness (ChT), total choroidal area (TCA), luminal choroidal area (LCA) were calculated. CVI was obtained as the ratio of LCA and TCA. Results Subfoveal ChT in LHON patients did not show statistically significant differences compared to controls, while in DOA a reduction in choroidal thickness was observed ( p  = 0.344 and p  = 0.045, respectively). Mean ChT was reduced in both LHON and DOA subjects, although this difference reached statistical significance only in DOA ( p  = 0.365 and p  = 0.044, respectively). TCA showed no significant differences among the 3 cohorts ( p  = 0.832). No changes were detected in LCA among the cohorts ( p  = 0.389), as well as in the stromal choroidal area (SCA, p  = 0.279). The CVI showed no differences among groups ( p  = 0.898): LHON group was characterized by a similar CVI in comparison to controls ( p  = 0.911) and DOA group ( p  = 0.818); the DOA group was characterized by a similar CVI in comparison to controls ( p  = 1.0). Conclusion CVI is preserved in DOA and LHON patients, suggesting that even in the chronic phase of the neuropathy the choroidal structure is not irreversibly compromised.