Choroidal thickness decreases with age, is significantly thinner in patients with geographic atrophy

Utilizing enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), researchers assessed choroidal thickness (CHT) in patients aged 70 years and older and found that CHT decreases with age and is significantly thinner in patients with geographic atrophy (GA). The study was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting in Seattle, Washington.

The population-based AugUR study included those with macula scans as generated by the Heidelberg Spectralis OCT device, with subfoveal CHT measured manually with the caliper tool from the Heidelberg Eye Explorer software.

The total patient cohort included 1,831 individuals with CHT measurement and known age-related macular degeneration (AMD) status for at least 1 eye. Median CHT in the 1,389 patients without AMD was 236 μg, with no discernible gender-based variation.

A total of 345 patients had late AMD. CHT decreased with AMD severity and was thinnest in those with GA, indicating a significant association between CHT and GA (odds ratio [OR], 0.992; 95% CI, 0.986-0.997; P=.002). CHT difference between those without AMD and combined GA plus macular neovascularization (MNV) was also significant (OR, 0.992; 95% CI, 0.985-0.999; P=.022). There was no statistically significant association between CHT and MNV only (P=.81) or early AMD stages (P=.94) compared with no AMD.

“Our study aids in establishing normative values for CHT in an elderly population, where data on CHT have been scarce,” the authors noted.

Reference

Luber C, Zimmermann ME, Helbig H, et al. Choroidal thickness in the elderly population and its association with age-related macular degeneration: findings from the population-based AugUR Study. Abstract 1339-B0330. Presented at the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 2024 Annual Meeting, May 5-9, Seattle, Washington.