title: Correlation of Peripapillary Choroidal Thickness and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in Normal Subjects and in Patients with Glaucoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study was designed to compare the normal and glaucomatous eyes regarding retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and peripapillary choroidal thickness (PCT), and to investigate the correlation of RNFL thickness and PCT.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects were selected as a convenience sample of those from a tertiary referral practice of glaucoma. Thirty-two glaucomatous eyes were accepted as group 1; 30 normal eyes were accepted as group 2. Groups were compared for RNFL thickness and PCT. Correlations of RNFL thickness and PCT were assessed for each peripapillary location.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean inferior and superior RNFL thickness in group 1 were significantly lower than the control group; mean thicknesses of temporal and nasal quadrants were not different in the two groups. Mean PCT at 500 µm distance in the inferior, at 1500 µm distance in the superior, at 500, 1000, and 1500 µm distance in the temporal, and at 1000 and 1500 µm distance in nasal quadrants were found to be significantly thinner in the glaucoma group compared with the control group. Retinal nerve fiber thickness was strongly correlated with PCT at all points of inferior quadrants at 500 µm distance in the superior. There was no correlation between RNFL thickness and PCT at any point in the control group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Peripapillary choroidal thickness was thinner in glaucomatous eyes compared with normal eyes. Correlation of PCT and RNFL thickness found in patients with glaucoma did not exist in normal subjects.
authors.affiliation: a Sifa University , Department of Ophthalmology , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Eyyup
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Karahan
authors.affiliation: b Alfagoz Eye Center , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: İbrahim
authors.initials: İ
authors.lastname: Tuncer
authors.affiliation: c Department of Ophthalmology , Dokuz Eylul University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Duygu
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Er
authors.affiliation: d Department of Ophthalmology , Izmir University , Izmir , Turkey.
authors.forename: Mehmet Ozgur
authors.initials: MO
authors.lastname: Zengin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005901:Glaucoma / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology*; D009898:Optic Disk; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence
keywords: Glaucoma; optical coherence tomography; peripapillary choroidal thickness; retinal nerve fiber layer thickness