Choroidal thickness in diabetic patients of Indian ethnicity

PURPOSE: To evaluate choroidal thickness (CT) change in various grades of diabetic retinopathy (DR) in comparison to age-matched healthy subjects. METHODS: This prospective observational study included 227 eyes of 125 subjects with diabetes (study group: 58 females) and 197 eyes of 110 age-matched healthy subjects (control group: 66 females). Collected data included age, gender, duration of diabetes, glycemic control, comprehensive ocular examination, fundus photography, and CT measurement on spectral domain ocular coherence tomography using enhanced depth imaging. RESULTS: Mean age in the study group was 57.0 ± 9.37 years (43–73 years). The mean age was 41.48 ± 5.43 years in the control group. Subjects with diabetes with (252.8 ± 55.6 microns) and without (261.71 ± 51.8 microns) retinopathy had significantly thinner choroids when compared to the control group (281.7 ± 47.7 microns; P = 0.032). Seventy-four of 227 eyes did not have any evidence of DR, 89 eyes had features of nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), and 33 eyes had treatment naïve proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR). Thirty-one PDR eyes had received previous laser photocoagulation. Subjects with diabetes without retinopathy had a greater subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) than subjects with diabetes with retinopathy (P < 0.001). Eyes with PDR (243.9 ± 56.2 microns) had thinner SFCT than those with NPDR (238.98 ± 111.23 microns). There was no difference in the SFCT between treated (laser photocoagulation done; 251.784 ± 103.72 microns) and treatment naïve PDR (258.405 ± 89.47 microns, P = 0.23). CONCLUSIONS: Control eyes had greater SFCT compared to subjects with diabetes, with and without retinopathy. The thinning progressed with increasing severity of DR. Choroidal thinning may contribute to DR pathogenesis.