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Purpose. To analyze and compare choroidal thickness between keratoconus (KC) patients and age-matched non-KC subjects. Methods. A cross-sectional, case-control study. One hundred and thirty-four keratoconic eyes and 78 control eyes, from individuals aged from 12 to 30 years old, were studied. Patients with KC followed in Corneal Department of Centro Hospitalar São João, Porto, Portugal, were identified and consecutively included between December 2017 and February 2018. A spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) using depth enhanced imaging was performed, and choroidal thickness in the center of the fovea and at 500 μm intervals along a horizontal section was measured and compared. Results. The statistical analysis showed that keratoconic eyes present a thicker choroid in every measured location (p<0.05). Mean subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) values obtained were 375.86 ± 89.29 and 322.91 ± 85.14 in keratoconus and control groups, respectively (p<0.001). In a multivariate analysis, SFCT was significantly associated with spherical equivalent (p=0.004) and the presence of keratoconus (p<0.001), but not with age (p=0.167), gender (p=0.579), or best-corrected visual acuity (p=0.178). In a "fixed model," keratoconus patients were found to have a 67.55 μm (95% CI 36.61–98.49) thicker subfoveal choroid compared to controls. Conclusion. Keratoconus patients seem to have a thicker choroid than healthy individuals. The exact pathophysiological mechanism resulting in a thicker choroid in KC patients is not known, but it could possibly be associated with inflammatory choroidal mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We investigated the characteristics, prognosis, and clinical outcome of the Charles Bonnet syndrome (CBS) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD)., Methods: Five hundred psychiatrically healthy patients with neovascular AMD were screened for CBS. The individuals that fulfilled the inclusion criteria were systematically interviewed using a structured questionnaire that covered the impact, prognosis, risk factors, phenomenology, symptoms, and knowledge about the syndrome. A control group of 45 patients was used for comparison. Demographic data, current medication, and ocular risk factors were collected in all patients., Results: Forty-five patients with CBS were identified. The majority of patients reported images that consisted of colored (62%) animals (44%) or faces (42%) that lasted for seconds (53%). Most patients reported a self-limited disease with a median duration of symptoms between 9 and 11.5 months, with only 7% knowing about CBS at symptom onset. The degree of visual deficit did not predict the characteristics, complexity, frequency, duration, or impact of visual hallucinations. One-third of patients reported negative outcome, which was associated with shorter duration of CBS (p = 0.023), fear-inducing images (p < 0.001), and impact on daily activities (p = 0.015)., Conclusion: The prevalence of CBS in neovascular AMD patients is high and clinically relevant. Patients with recent onset of visual hallucinations and describing fear-inducing images are at greater risk for negative outcome. Periodic screening may minimize the negative consequences of this disease., (© 2020 S. Karger AG, Basel.)