Título / Title

CHOROIDAL THICKNESS COMPARISON OF NON-EDEMATOUS AND EDEMATOUS MACULAR AREAS IN PATIENTS WITH DIABETIC MACULAR EDEMA USING EDI-OCT.

Introdução / Purpose

To compare the choroidal thickness (CT) measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in areas with and without macular edema in patients with diabetic macular edema.

Material e Método / Methods

Thirty-seven eyes of 28 patients underwent high-definition vertical line scanning using enhanced depth image (EDI) SD-OCT with frame enhancement software. CT was measured from the posterior edge of the retinal pigment epithelium to the choroid/scleral junction at 250 µm intervals, starting from the center of the fovea until the area without edema. A comparison between the regions with and without edema was performed. Additionally, the CT in the superior and inferior borders were also compared.

Resultados / Results

Mean CT in the edematous retina area was 271.28 µm (70µm-491µm) compared to 243.78µm (64 µm-455 µm) in the area without edema (P<0.001). The superior border of the edema was also thicker than the superior border in the area without edema. (P<0.03). There was no significant difference comparing the inferior edge of the edema with the inferior area without edema.

Discussão e Conclusões / Conclusion

CT in the area with macular edema was thicker than the area without macular edema, which may be explained by increased levels of inflammatory mediators and VEGF in this region.

Palavras Chave

Choroidal Thickness; retinal edema; Optical Coherence Tomography; Enhanced Depth Image; Diabetic Macular Edema.