Does Allergic Rhinitis have any Effect on Choroidal Thickness?
Raşit Kiliç *
Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Gaziosmapaşa University, Tokat, Turkey.
Harun Soyaliç
Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahi Evran University, Kırşehir, Turkey.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the choroidal thickness between patients with allergic rhinitis (AR) and healthy controls.
Study Design: Prospective case-control study.
Methodology: This cross sectional case control study consisted of 52 patients with AR and 52 healthy subjects. The choroidal thicknesses were measured horizontally with the digital calipers provided by the Heidelberg Spectralis software. The points of measurements were at the subfovea, 1500 µm nasal and 1500 µm temporal to the center of the fovea. The right eye was assessed in all participants.
Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups for age and gender distribution, intraocular pressure and spherical equivalent. Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness, nasal choroidal thickness and temporal choroidal thickness were 382.1±121.7, 328.6±111.8 and 368.1±98.2 in AR patients and 378.5±87, 309±77 and 354.2±94.2 in healthy subjects respectively. These differences were not found statistically significant (P˃0.05).
Conclusion: Choroidal thickness in AR patients was found to be thicker, but not statistically significant.
Keywords: Allergic rhinitis, choroidal thickness, inflammation, optical coherence tomography.