Evaluation of optical coherence tomography parameters before and after parenteral iron treatment of patients with iron deficiency anemia

•Women with IDA had lower initial choroidal thickness than Turkish women in the same age group.•Parenteral iron therapy significantly increased choroidal thickness in patients with IDA.•Baseline RNFL values were lower in all quadrants, especially in the temporal and nasal quadrants, compared to Turkish female population averages of the same age group.•IDA should be considered in the differential diagnosis of unexplained choroidal or RNFL thinning, and iron replacement therapy may improve these symptoms. The aim of our study is to evaluate the relationship between iron deficiency anemia (IDA), which is a common and often chronic condition in young women, and the optical coherence tomography (OCT) findings, which have become an indispensable part of ophthalmology practice. We aim to identify a new biomarker for anemia evaluation by demonstrating the morphological changes in the eye before and after iron replacement treatment through OCT findings. 70 eyes of 35 patients diagnosed with IDA and planned to have parenteral iron replacement were included in the study. Patients were evaluated before treatment and between 4–6 weeks and 12–16 weeks after treatment. During visits, peripapillary and macular choroidal thicknesses and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses were evaluated with OCT along with serum hemoglobin(Hb) values. The mean age of the patients was 36.80 ± 7.25. All 35 patients (100%) were female. The mean baseline Hb values of the patients increased statistically significantly both after 4–6 weeks and after 12–16 weeks (p