Swept source‐optical coherence tomography analysis of choroidal involvement in patients with uveitis

Purpose Swept source OCT (SS‐OCT) is currently the best visualization technique of the choroid. The aim of our study is to describe its thickness and vascular structures in patients with choroiditis. Methods We have completed a choroidal map with SS‐OCT, using 12‐mm horizontal vertical scans through the macula, for a group of patients with choroiditis, referred to Pitie Hospital, from October 2012 to March 2013. Results Eight patients have been included with a sex ratio of 1, an average age of 56.5 years : 5 birdshot retinochoroidopathies (BRC), 1 multifocal choroiditis , 1 Vogt‐Koyanagi‐Harada (VKH) disease, 1 acute posterior placoid chorioretinitis concomitant with a syphilitic seroconversion. In four active BRC, the average choroidal thickness was increased to 339 µm (389 µm ±41.93), among whom one BRC patient experienced a decrease of 30 µm in choroidal thickness immediately after corticotherapy. On the contrary the fifth patient, an advanced form of BRC, showed signs of atrophy with a choroidal thickness of 194 µm. Choroidal thickness in the VKH patient was unchanged in both eyes. There was a significant asymmetry in the patient with syphilitic chorioretinitis, with a choroidal thickness of 334 µm in the affected eye versus 387 µm in the contralateral eye. Yet, we observed that Haller’s layer of the affected eye was harder to visualize, due to possible inflammatory infiltrations Conclusion These choroidal maps are among the first choroiditis cases explored by SS‐OCT, first step of a mapping project which we wish to amplify in order to determine a possible threshold of choroidal thickness indicating a subclinical relapse. This could make SS‐OCT an additional tool besides ICG angiography for the exploration of the choroid.