Choroidal changes in patients with multiple sclerosis

PurposeTo evaluate the peripapillar choroidal thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to compare it with age‐ and sex‐ matched healthy controls, using a swept‐source optic coherence tomography (SS‐OCT).MethodsFifty‐one right eyes of patients with MS and 102 right eyes of healthy controls were analyzed. A 6X6 mm choroidal cube was scanned using the SS‐OCT Triton device. This OCT showed 676 measurements that were later divided in four zones, from lower to higher choroidal thickness: the zone 1 corresponds to the optic nerve head (no choroidal measurements are given), the zone 2 corresponds to choroidal thickness between 120 and 179 microns, the zone 3 between 180 and 239 microns, and finally the zone 4 corresponds to a thickness higher to 240 microns.ResultsA similar concentric choroidal thickness pattern was observed in MS patients and healthy controls. The choroidal thickness was thicker in the superior region, followed by the temporal, nasal and inferior regions. The farther from the optic nerve, the thicker choroidal tissue was quantified. However, a statistically significant decreased of the peripapillary choroidal thickness in all the concentric zones was observed in patients with MS compared to healthy controls (134.02 ± 16.59 μm in MS group vs 171.56 ± 12.43 μm in the control group in zone 2; 182.23 ± 20.52 vs 219.03 ± 17.99 μm, respectively, in zone 3; and 223.52 ± 10.70 vs 259.99 ± 10.29 μm, respectively, in zone 4; p < 0.0001).ConclusionsPatients with MS showed thinner peripapillar choroidal thickness compared to healthy controls. The SS‐OCT device could be useful equipment in clinical practice to evaluate the peripapillar choroidal tissue in such patients.