Choroidal thickening may be an indicator of disease activity in thyroid eye disease

Using swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) revealed that subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) is significantly thicker in patients with active thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy (TAO) compared to those with inactive disease and healthy controls, according to a study. In addition, the research highlights the strong correlation between SFCT and the Clinical Activity Score in TAO patients.

The study included 30 patients (60 eyes) with TAO and 38 controls (67 eyes).

Patients with active disease had a thicker mean SFCT (276.23±84.01 µm) in comparison to those with inactive disease (224.68±111.61 µm; P = 0.049) and the healthy control cohort (223.56±78.69 µm; P = 0.01). However, no significant distinctions in SFCT were observed between patients with moderate-to-severe disease, those with severe disease, and the healthy control group (P > 0.05). Additionally, alterations in SFCT demonstrated a robust predictive capacity in discerning active TAO from its inactive counterpart (area under the curve=0.659, 95% CI 0.496 to 0.822).

Reference
Zhong S, He F, Fang S, et al. Choroidal thickness in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy, as determined by swept-source optical coherence tomography. Br J Ophthalmol. 2023 Oct 19:bjo-2023-323694. doi: 10.1136/bjo-2023-323694. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37857455.