Choroidal vascular changes in acne patients under isotretinoin treatment

The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential changes in choroidal vasculature in nodulocystic acne patients under isotretinoin treatment by using choroidal thickness (CT), choroidal vascularity index (CVI), and choriocapillaris (CC) flow area.This prospective study included nodulocystic acne patients under isotretinoin treatment and healthy controls. All patients underwent enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) imaging to assess the subfoveal CT and submacular CVI, and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) imaging to evaluate the CC flow area.A total of 25 patients with acne and 23 controls were included. The mean duration of the treatment was 7.20 ± 0.79 months and the mean daily isotretinoin dose was 38.7 ± 2.8 mg in the acne group. The mean CT and CVI values were significantly higher in the acne group compared to the control group (After a mean 7-month course of isotretinoin treatment, subfoveal CT and submacular CVI values were significantly higher in the nodulocyctic acne patients. Whether the choroidal changes are permanent or not should be investigated in future studies.