Lack of Association between Glaucoma and Macular Choroidal Thickness Measured with Enhanced Depth-Imaging Optical Coherence Tomography

PURPOSE. To compare choroidal thickness measurements among normal eyes, eyes with normal tension glaucoma (NTG), and those with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and to correlate choroidal thickness with demographic and clinical ocular parameters. METHODS. Choroidal thickness was measured with enhanced depth-imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT) in one eye of 38 normal, 20 NTG, and 56 POAG subjects and compared among groups. The mean age was 69.3 +/- 13.6 years (60.1 +/- 13.4 years for normal subjects and 73.8 +/- 11.3 years for glaucoma subjects; P < 0.001). Measurements were made at the fovea and in the temporal and nasal choroid every 0.5 mm up to 3 mm away from the fovea. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analyses were performed to assess the association between choroidal thickness and demographic and ocular parameters. RESULTS. There were no differences in foveal, temporal, or nasal choroidal thickness between normal, NTG, and POAG subjects (all P > 0.05) after adjusting for age, axial length, and intraocular pressure. Similarly, glaucoma severity groups did not differ from each other in all choroidal thickness measurements (all P > 0.05). Age (beta = -1.78; P < 0.001) was the most significant factor associated with subfoveal choroidal thickness in the entire group, followed by axial length (beta = -11.8; P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS. Choroidal thickness does not differ among normal, NTG, and POAG subjects, suggesting a lack of relationship between choroidal thickness and glaucoma based on EDI OCT measurements. (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2011;52:3430-3435) DOI:10.1167/iovs.10-6600