title: Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness and Axial Length in Preschool Children with Hyperopic Anisometropic Amblyopia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the relationship between subfoveal choroidal thickness and axial length in Japanese preschool children with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty-four children between the age of 3 and 6 years exhibiting hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia were examined. Differences in spherical equivalent between the two eyes were over 1.5 D in all children. Twenty-four eyes in 12 children without anisometropia and amblyopia were examined as age-matched normal controls. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was measured by using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography. Axial length was measured with noncontact optical biometer.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The spherical equivalent ranged from +3.50 to +7.25 D in amblyopic eyes and from +0.75 to +3.50 D in fellow eyes. The subfoveal choroidal thickness was significantly greater in the amblyopic eyes than that in the fellow eyes (407.3 ± 54.2 μm versus 357.7 ± 54.3 μm, Paired t-test, p < 0.05). The axial length in the amblyopic eyes was significantly shorter than that in the fellow eyes (21.16 ± 0.64 mm versus 22.08 ± 0.72 mm, Paired t-test, p < 0.05). The mean choroidal thickness of the fellow eyes in hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia was greater than that in age matched normal children, although this difference did not reach statistical significance (326.0 ± 62.1 μm, p = 0.07). The subfoveal choroidal thickness in amblyopic children was negatively correlated with their axial length (r = -0.50, p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The subfoveal choroidal thickness of amblyopic children abnormally increased and the thicker subfoveal choroid is mildly correlated with their shorter axial length. The anomalous subfoveal choroidal thicknesses in our amblyopic children may reflect a delay in emmetropization.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Fukushima Medical University , Fukushima , Japan and.
authors.forename: Takafumi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Mori
authors.forename: Yukinori
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sugano
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maruko
authors.forename: Tetsuju
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Sekiryu
mesh_terms: D000550:Amblyopia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D015858:Anisometropia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D058452:Axial Length, Eye; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D006956:Hyperopia / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D014792:Visual Acuity
keywords: Amblyopia; anisometropia; axial length; choidal thickness; optical coherence tomography