title: Age-Dependent Morphologic Alterations in the Outer Retinal and Choroidal Thicknesses Using Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the age-dependent morphologic alterations in the outer retina and choroid at the macula using swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty eyes (30 normal subjects; average age, 49 years) were examined; five (age range, third-eighth decades of life) had refractive errors of ±2 diopters or less and no fundus abnormalities. An Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) map of the outer retinal and choroidal thickness was constructed using swept-source OCT. The outer retinal and choroidal segmentation lines were drawn automatically, partially manually, within 6 millimeters of the macula.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean outer retinal and choroidal thicknesses in the 6-millimeter-diameter circle were 145±13 and 236±68 microns, respectively. The choroidal thickness and age were negatively (r = -0.66, P<0.01) correlated; the outer retinal thickness and age were not correlated (r = -0.16, P = 0.39). The outer retinal and choroidal thicknesses in the ETDRS map were not correlated (r = -0.13, P = 0.49) within 1 millimeter but correlated (r = 0.32, P<0.01) within 6 millimeters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The choroid thins with aging. The outer retina remains stable. Outer retina and choroid are correlated in the entire macula except for the center. ETDRS map can be useful for evaluation of the morphologic relationship between the outer retina and choroid.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Ichiro
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Maruko
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hisaya
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Arakawa
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hideki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Koizumi
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Reiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Izumi
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiromi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Sunagawa
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women's Medical University School of Medicine, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan.
authors.forename: Tomohiro
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Iida
mesh_terms: D002829:Choroid / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012160:Retina / Q000033:anatomy & histology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*