title: Choroidal thickness in Chinese patients with non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NA-AION) is one of the most common types of ischemic optic neuropathy. Several recent studies suggested that abnormalities of choroidal thickness might be associated with NA-AION. The main objective of this case-control study was to evaluate whether choroidal thickness is an ocular risk factor for the development of NA-AION by evaluating the peripapillary and subfoveal choroidal thicknesses in affected Chinese patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  Forty-four Chinese patients with unilateral NA-AION were recruited and compared with 60 eyes of 60 normal age and refractive-error matched control subjects. Peripapillary and subfoveal choroidal thicknesses were measured by enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography. Choroidal thicknesses of eyes with NA-AION and unaffected fellow eyes were compared with normal controls. Choroidal thicknesses of NA-AION eyes with or without optic disc edema were also compared. The correlation between choroidal thickness and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, logMAR best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), and the mean deviation (MD) of Humphrey static perimetry in NA-AION eyes were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The peripapillary choroidal thicknesses at the nasal, nasal inferior and temporal inferior segments in NA-AION eyes with optic disc edema were significantly thicker compared with that of normal subjects (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the choroidal thicknesses between the unaffected fellow eyes of NA-AION patients and normal eyes of healthy controls; or between the NA-AION eyes with resolved optic disc edema and normal eyes (all P > 0.05). No significant correlation between choroidal thickness and RNFL thickness, logMAR BCVA and perimetry MD was found in eyes affected by NA-AION (all P > 0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Increase in peripapillary choroid thickness in some segments was found in NA-ION eyes with optic disc edema. However, our findings do not support the hypothesis that choroidal thickness is abnormal in Chinese patients with NA-AION compared with normal subjects with similar age and refractive error status.
authors: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China. jlbjlb@sina.com.
authors: Libin
authors: http://orcid.org/0000-0003-2543-4721
authors: L
authors: Jiang
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Hainan Branch of Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital, Sanya, Hainan, China.
authors: Lanlan
authors: L
authors: Chen
authors: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China.
authors: Xiujuan
authors: X
authors: Qiu
authors: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China.|Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors: Ran
authors: R
authors: Jiang
authors: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China.|Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors: Yaxing
authors: Y
authors: Wang
authors: Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences Key Laboratory, Beijing, China.|Beijing Institute of Ophthalmology, Beijing Tongren Eye Center, Beijing Tongren Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China.
authors: Liang
authors: L
authors: Xu
authors: Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China.
authors: Timothy Y Y
authors: TY
authors: Lai
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002681:China; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000473:pathology; D018917:Optic Neuropathy, Ischemic / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012160:Retina / Q000473:pathology; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology
keywords: Choroidal thickness; Non-arteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy; Optical coherence tomography