title: Evaluation of choroidal thickness in ankylosing spondylitis using optical coherence tomography.
abstract: Abstract Purpose: To investigate posterior segment (PS) findings in the eye in patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS).
  
  
  METHODS
  Eighty-four patients with AS and 63 healthy controls were enrolled. PS evaluations were performed using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Foveal thickness, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, macular volume, ganglion cell complex, and choroidal thickness (CT) values were compared between the groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean CT was higher in patients with AS (326.5 ± 71.5 µm) than in the healthy controls (286.2 ± 59.5 µm) (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference between patients with AS and the healthy control group in terms of other OCT parameters. There was also no significant correlation between CT, AS activity index, and disease duration.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This is the first study to evaluate effects of AS on CT. CT was high in patients with AS compared to healthy controls.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Karadeniz Technical University , Trabzon , Turkey .
authors.forename: Mehmet
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kola
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kalkisim
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Karkucak
authors.forename: Adem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Turk
authors.forename: Erhan
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Capkin
authors.forename: Ipek
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Can
authors.forename: Omer Faruk
authors.initials: OF
authors.lastname: Serdar
authors.forename: Suleyman
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mollamehmetoglu
authors.forename: Ahmet
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ayar
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D013167:Spondylitis, Ankylosing / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*
keywords: Ankylosing; choroid; optical coherence; spondylitis; tomography; uveitis