Thinning of Choroidal Thickness in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis Unrelated to Disease Activity.

Purpose: To investigate subfoveal and perifoveal choroidal thickness (CT) in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).
Methods: A study group of 117 patients with RA and a control group of 46 age-matched healthy individuals were enrolled in the study. Subfoveal and perifoveal CTs were measured using enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT). Perifoveal CT was measured 1,500 µm nasally and 1,500 µm temporally apart from the foveal center. Relationship between the disease activity score 28 (DAS-28) and subfoveal CT was also evaluated.
Results: The mean subfoveal CT values in the study and control groups were 226.90 ± 43.61 μm and 299.74 ± 48.06 μm, respectively, which made for a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001). Likewise, perifoveal CT values were significantly thinner in the study group when compared with control group. DAS-28 wasn't correlated with subfoveal CT in the study group.
Conclusions: CT was significantly thinner in patients with RA when compared with healthy controls.