2Asist. Dr., Kayseri Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Göz Hastalıkları, Kayseri - TÜRKİYE
3Uz. Dr., Kayseri Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi, Radyoloji, Kayseri - TÜRKİYE Objective: To evaluate the ocular posterior segment changes in patients with internal carotid artery (ICA) stenosis without ocular ischemic syndrome.
Methods: In our study enrolling 42 patients, including 21 eyes (group 1) in 21 patients with ICA stenosis diagnosed by clinical radiology and 21 healthy volunteers in 21 eyes (group 2). Macular choroidal thickness was measured at the central fovea; other choroidal thickness measurements were taken 1,500 ?m away from the central fovea in the nasal and temporal regions by enhanced depth imaging OCT (EDI-OCT) in both groups. In addition, central macular thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fi ber layer thickness were evaluated by using spectral-domain OCT.
Results: Choroidal thickness values in the group with stenosis of the ICA were signifi cantly thinner than those of the control groups for all regions (central fovea p=0.004, 1500 ?m nasal p=0.001, 1500 ?m temporal p=0.002). However, there was no signifi cant correlation between the degree of ICA stenosis and the choroidal thickness values. The central macular thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fi ber layer thickness was not signifi cantly different between the groups.
Conclusion: Our study revealed that choroidal thickness decreases in patients with ICA stenosis. But there is no signifi cant thinning in the central macular thickness and peripapillary retinal nerve fi ber layer thickness in these patients.
Keywords : Internal carotid artery stenosis; optical coherence tomography; choroidal thickness