Macular choroidal thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in normal adults and patients with optic atrophy due to acute idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis

PURPOSE: To evaluate the association between macular choroidal thickness and peripapillary RNFL thickness in patients with optic atrophy due to acute idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis and in normal controls using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). METHODS: We performed SD-OCT peripapillary RNFL circular scan centered on the optic disc with horizontal and vertical crosshair scans through the fovea using the enhanced depth technique in 62 eyes with optic atrophy due to acute idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis and 86 eyes of normal controls. The association between RNFL thickness and macular choroidal thickness measurements was assessed. RESULTS: The mean age was 43 ± 14 years (mean ± SD) in patients with optic atrophy and 45 ± 16 years in healthy controls (p = 0.791). There was a significant association between nasal peripapillary RNFL thickness and choroidal thickness at 3.0 mm nasal to the foveal center in patients with optic atrophy in multivariate analysis (estimate = 1.398, p = 0.011). In controls, there were significant associations between global average, superior, and inferior peripapillary RNFL thickness and choroidal thickness at 3.0 mm superior to the foveal center (estimate = -60.112, p = 0.044, estimate = 15.821, p = 7.312, and estimate = 15.203, p = 7.222, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our SD-OCT data revealed that there was a significant association between peripapillary RNFL thickness and macular choroidal thickness in patients with optic atrophy due to acute idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis and in controls, although the mechanism remained unclear. The difference in the pattern of association between patients with optic atrophy and controls suggests that optic atrophy caused by acute idiopathic demyelinating optic neuritis could affect the pattern of association between peripapillary RNFL thickness and macular choroidal thickness.