Purpose: To evaluate the change in subfoveal choroidal thickness between active and quiescent phases of Behcet's posterior uveitis and compare this with the healthy population using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT).
Methods: Thirty eyes from 30 patients with Behcet's posterior uveitis (mean age, 47.03 ± 11.01 years) were retrospectively enrolled in the study. Their subfoveal choroidal thickness was measured using EDI-OCT in the active and quiescent phases of Behcet's uveitis, and compared with the age, sex, and spherical equivalent-matched healthy population. Changes in retinal vascular leakage on fluorescein angiography (FA) were correlated with the changes in subfoveal choroidal thickness.
Results: Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness in the acute phase of Behcet's uveitis was significantly greater than that in the quiescent phase (398.77 ± 155.59 μm versus 356.72 ± 141.09 μm; P = 0.004). Subfoveal choroidal thickness in the quiescent phase was also significantly greater than that of the healthy population (259.96 ± 65.16 μm; P < 0.0001). There was a statistically significant association between the change in subfoveal choroidal thickness and the change in vascular leakage revealed by FA (ρ = 0.381, P = 0.046). Subfoveal choroidal thickness in the uninvolved fellow eyes of patients with unilateral Behcet's uveitis was also evaluated and it was significantly greater than that of the healthy population (n = 13 eyes; P = 0.001) CONCLUSIONS: This study found choroidal thickening during the active phase of Behcet's posterior uveitis. Subfoveal choroidal thickness during the quiescent phase was also significantly greater than in normal eyes. The degree of reduction in choroidal thickening was significantly correlated with improvement in retinal vascular leakage as revealed by FA.
Keywords: Behcet's uveitis; choroid; choroidal thickness; fluorescein angiography.