2İstanbul Dünya Göz Hospital (Suadiye Office of The Hospital), Department of Ophthalmology, İstanbul, Türkiye
3Johns Hopkins University, Wilmer Eye Institute, Baltimore, MD, USA
4Eskişehir Osmangazi University, Faculty of Medicine, Üniversitesi Tıp Fakültesi, Department of Medical Oncology, Eskişehir, Türkiye DOI : 10.37845/ret.vit.2024.33.42 Purpose: To objectively measure the possible changes in the vascular structure of the choroid in patients with iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia (IDA) using choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and to compare with healthy control group
Materials and Methods: The study included 74 eyes of 74 female subjects without any ocular disease. Of the participants, 25 had IDA (group 1) and 23 had iron deficiency (group 2). 26 subjects were determined as healthy control group (group 3). Ophthalmological examination findings and laboratory tests were recorded. Subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was measured by swept source optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. The central 1000 ?m choroidal area and luminal area were determined by binarising the OCT image. The CVI result was obtained by proportioning luminal area to total choroidal area.
Results: Mean SFCT was significantly lower in group 1 compared to both other groups (p<0.001). It was similar in groups 2 and 3. Mean CVI was significantly different between all groups. It was lowest in group 1 and highest in group 3 (p=0.007). Statistically significant positive correlation existed between ferritin level and SFCT and CVI in groups 1 and 2.
Conclusion: The findings of our study show that choroidal thickness decreased only in IDA, whereas CVI is decreased in both IDA and iron deficiency. The decrease in CVI in iron deficiency suggests that the choroidal structure is affected in early period before development of anemia.
Keywords : Iron deficiency, Iron deficiency anemia, Choroidal vascularity index