Choroidal Structural Changes in Sympathetic Ophthalmia on Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography.

Purpose: To analyze choroidal angioarchitecture in sympathetic ophthalmia (SO) using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) images.

Methods

Case-control study of six patients with SO. Qualitative changes and quantitative parameters, including choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI), were analyzed.

Results

Qualitative findings in the acute phase of SO on SS-OCT included retinal serous detachment with hyperreflective septa, choroidal folds, alterations in angioarchitecture with loss of vascular lacunae, and Dalen-Fuchs nodules. There was significantly higher CT in SO (284.05 ± 24.12 µm) compared to healthy controls (229.57 ± 46.67 µm, p = 0.04) and also increased CVI in SO (62.06 ± 2.07% vs 56.79 ± 3.15%, p = 0.006).

Conclusions

CVI was significantly increased in SO, representing a novel noninvasive biomarker of disease activity. SS-OCT provides a useful qualitative and quantitative parameter, which can be potentially explored in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients with SO.