Evaluation of Choroidal Thickness in Children With Iron Deficiency Anemia.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are differences in choroidal thickness in children with iron deficiency anemia (IDA).


METHODS
Fifty-two patients with IDA and 54 healthy children between 3 and 16 years of age were enrolled in this study. After complete eye examinations were conducted for each participant, the choroidal thickness was measured using optical coherence tomography. Correlations between the choroidal thickness and clinical and laboratory parameters were also evaluated.


RESULTS
There were no statistically significant differences between the two groups in terms of visual acuity, intraocular pressure, central corneal thickness, or axial length (P > 0.05). The choroidal thicknesses at the foveal center were 303.13 ± 27.14 μm in the IDA patients and 333.67 ± 39.77 μm in the healthy control children (P < 0.001); additionally, the choroidal thicknesses at each point within the horizontal nasal and temporal quadrants were thinner in the IDA group. There were positive correlations between the choroidal thickness and hemoglobin (r = 0.337; P < 0.001), mean corpuscular volume (r = 0.305; P = 0.001), iron (r = 0.264; P = 0.006), and ferritin (r = 0.287; P = 0.003) levels; however, there were no correlations between the clinical or ocular characteristics and the choroidal thickness.


CONCLUSIONS
The patients with IDA had significantly thinner choroidal thicknesses than those of the healthy children. Choroidal thinning in childhood may be an early sign of deterioration in the ocular blood circulation, without any risk of atherosclerosis in advanced age in the patients with IDA.
Department of Ophthalmology, Adiyaman University School of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Ali
A
Simsek
Department of Pediatrics, Adiyaman University School of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Mehmet
M
Tekin
Department of Ophthalmology, Adiyaman University School of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Abdurrahman
A
Bilen
Department of Ophthalmology, Adiyaman University School of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Ayse Sevgi
AS
Karadag
Department of Pediatrics, Adiyaman University School of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Ibrahim Hakan
IH
Bucak
Department of Pediatrics, Adiyaman University School of Medicine, Adiyaman, Turkey.
Mehmet
M
Turgut
D000293:Adolescent; D018798:Anemia, Iron-Deficiency / Q000473:pathology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods; D014065:Tonometry, Ocular; D014792:Visual Acuity