Choroidal structural analysis in ultra-high risk and first-episode psychosis

•Choroidal microvasculature is abnormal in prodromal and first-episode psychosis.•Choroidal vascularity index is higher in FEP compared to UHR-P and HCs.•No differences between groups in choroidal thickness and total choroidal area. Both structural and functional alterations in the retina and the choroid of the eye, as parts of the central nervous system, have been shown in psychotic disorders, especially in schizophrenia. In addition, genetic and imaging studies indicate vascular and angiogenesis anomalies in the psychosis spectrum disorders. In this ocular imaging study, choroidal structure and vascularity were investigated using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT) in first-episode psychosis (FEP), ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR-P), and age- and gender- matched healthy controls (HCs). There were no significant differences between groups in central choroidal thickness, stromal choroidal area (SCA), luminal choroidal area (LCA) and total subfoveal choroidal area. The LCA/SCA ratio (p