Relationship Between Peripapillary Choroid and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness in a Population-Based Sample of Nonglaucomatous Eyes.

PURPOSE

To describe the relationship between peripapillary choroidal thickness and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness in a population-based sample of nonglaucomatous eyes.

DESIGN

Population-based, cross-sectional study.

METHODS

A total of 478 nonglaucomatous subjects aged over 40 years were recruited from the Singapore Malay Eye Study (SiMES-2). All participants underwent a detailed ophthalmic examination, including Cirrus and Spectralis optical coherence tomography (OCT) for the measurements of RNFL thickness and peripapillary choroidal thickness, respectively. Associations between peripapillary choroidal thickness and RNFL thickness were assessed using linear regression models with generalized estimating equations.

RESULTS

Of the 424 included subjects (843 nonglaucomatous eyes), 60.9% were women, and the mean (SD) age was 66.74 (10.44) years. The mean peripapillary choroidal thickness was 135.59 ± 56.74 μm and the mean RNFL thickness was 92.92 ± 11.41 μm. In terms of distribution profile, peripapillary choroid was thickest (150.04 ± 59.72 μm) at the superior and thinnest (110.71 ± 51.61 μm) at the inferior quadrant, whereas RNFL was thickest (118.60 ± 19.83 μm) at the inferior and thinnest (67.36 ± 11.36 μm) at the temporal quadrant. We found that thinner peripapillary choroidal thickness (PPCT) was independently associated with thinner RNFL thickness globally (regression coefficient [β] = -1.334 μm for per-SD decrease in PPCT, P = .003), and in the inferior (β = -2.565, P = .001) and superior (β = -2.340, P = .001) quadrants even after adjusting for potential confounders.

CONCLUSIONS

Thinner peripapillary choroid was independently associated with thinner RNFL globally and in the inferior and superior regions. This structure-structure relationship may need further exploration in glaucomatous eyes prior to its application in clinical settings.