Academic Journal
Quantitative evaluation of choroidal thickness and vascularity in subclinical keratoconus: a cross-sectional EDI-OCT study.
| Τίτλος: | Quantitative evaluation of choroidal thickness and vascularity in subclinical keratoconus: a cross-sectional EDI-OCT study. |
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| Συγγραφείς: | Kiziltoprak H; School of Medicine, Ophthalmology Department, Atlas University, Istanbul, Turkey., Ören B; School of Medicine, Ophthalmology Department, Adiyaman University, Adiyaman, Turkey. burakoren@windowslive.com., Kocabas DO; School of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, TOBB University, Ankara, Turkey., Yetkin E; Department of Ophthalmology, Private Bati Hospital, Diyarbakir, Turkey., Tekin K; Ophthalmology Department, Ulucanlar Eye Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. |
| Πηγή: | International ophthalmology [Int Ophthalmol] 2026 Sep 07; Vol. 46 (1). Date of Electronic Publication: 2026 Sep 07. |
| Τύπος έκδοσης: | Journal Article |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Στοιχεία περιοδικού: | Publisher: Kluwer Country of Publication: Netherlands NLM ID: 7904294 Publication Model: Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1573-2630 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 01655701 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Int Ophthalmol Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Publication: Dordrecht : Kluwer Original Publication: The Hague, Junk. |
| Ιατρικοί όροι (MeSH): | Keratoconus*/diagnosis , Keratoconus*/physiopathology , Tomography, Optical Coherence*/methods , Choroid*/blood supply , Choroid*/pathology, Humans ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Female ; Prospective Studies ; Adult ; Male ; Young Adult |
| Περίληψη: | Purpose: To assess choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in a subclinical keratoconus (SK) population. Methods: A prospective, cross-sectional analysis was performed on 42 participants of unilateral keratoconus (KC), defined by clinical keratoconus (CK) in one eye and SK in the contralateral eye along with 42 age- and sex-matched healthy control participants. CT measurements were obtained at the subfoveal, nasal 750 µm (N750), and temporal 750 µm (T750) locations. Measurements of CVI, luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA), and total choroidal area (TCA) were calculated from enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) images. Generalized estimating equations were used to account for the inter-eye correlation between CK and SK eyes. Results: CT values at all three measured points differed significantly among the study groups (all p < 0.001). Both the CK and SK groups exhibited significantly greater CT than the control group at all measured locations. CK eyes also demonstrated significantly greater subfoveal CT than SK eyes (adjusted p = 0.003), whereas nasal and temporal CT did not differ significantly between the CK and SK groups. The CK group exhibited a significantly larger TCA than both the SK (adjusted p = 0.019) and control groups (adjusted p = 0.005). No significant differences were observed in LA (p = 0.173) or CVI (p = 0.104) among the groups, while SA demonstrated a significant overall group difference (p = 0.011), which was attributable only to the comparison between the CK and control groups (adjusted p = 0.016). Conclusion: The findings demonstrate increased CT in both CK and SK, whereas most quantitative choroidal vascularity parameters remained unchanged. These observations suggest that choroidal thickening may represent an early structural alteration in the keratoconus spectrum. However, these findings represent associations only, and the underlying biological mechanisms and their prognostic significance cannot be determined from this cross-sectional design. (© 2026. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature B.V.) |
| Competing Interests: | Declarations. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Ethical approval: The Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital Clinical Research Ethics Committee granted ethical permission for the study on October 19, 2020, with approval number 16–1073-E. The study was carried out in compliance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from the volunteers. |
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| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: Choroidal thickness; Choroidal vascularity index; Enhanced depth imaging OCT; Keratoconus; Subclinical keratoconus |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20260907 Date Completed: 20260907 Latest Revision: 20261008 |
| Update Code: | 20261008 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10792-026-04248-8 |
| PMID: | 42702657 |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | MEDLINE |
| ISSN: | 1573-2630 |
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| DOI: | 10.1007/s10792-026-04248-8 |