Evaluation of Early and Late Period Choroidal Thickness in Non-arteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy Cases

Objective: Non-arteritic ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) is the most common clinical presentation of acute ischemic damage to the optic nerve. It is possible to evaluate choroidal changes in these cases with optical cohorens tomography (OCT).
Methods: The records of 48 patients with NAION (group 1) were retrospectively reviewed. The best corrected visual acuities, intraocular pressure, ophthalmologic examination findings and macular enhanced depth imaging optic coherent tomography (EDI-OCT) examinations were evaluated. The data were compared with the right eyes of the control group of 50 volunteers (group 2).
Results: The mean age of group 1 was 59.25±9.685 years, and the mean age of group 2 was 58.26±9.249 years. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of age (p=0.08). When the macular EDI-OCT tests were evaluated in the acute period, the affected eye choroidal thickness was significantly higher when compared with unaffected eyes in subfovea, nasal and temporal areas and group 2 (respectively p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001). Group 1 unaffected eye subfovea, nasal and temporal OCT were significantly higher than control group (respectively p=0.001, p=0.001, p=0.001). In the chronic period, thinning was observed in the affected eye choroidal thickness, but it was not statistically significant when compared with group 2 [respectively (p=0.543, p=0.513, p=0.497)].
Conclusion: The choroidal thickness changes in the early and late stages of the disease in NAION cases. This change may be due to the protection and adaptation mechanisms of optic nerve head perfusion.