Choroidal Thickness Evaluation Before and After Hemodialysis in Patients With and Without Diabetes.

Purpose: We evaluated the effect of hemodialysis on the choroidal thickness in patients with and without diabetes who have end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).

Methods: Forty-one patients with ESKD were recruited and divided into two groups: those with ESKD due to diabetic nephropathy (DM group, 37 eyes of 20 patients) and those with nondiabetic ESKD (NDM group, 40 eyes of 21 patients). Using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT) was measured before and after hemodialysis, and the change ratio (ΔSCT [%]) was calculated.

Results: The SCT decreased in all eyes after hemodialysis. The ΔSCT value in the DM group (-12.6 ± 2.7%) was significantly (P = 0.00027) larger than that in the NDM group (-6.9 ± 2.3%). Moreover, the ΔSCT per body fluid removal (BFR [L]) in the DM group was significantly (P = 0.013) greater than in the NDM group. In the DM group, the mean ΔSCT in the eyes treated with panretinal photocoagulation (PRP; n = 19) was significantly (P = 0.035) larger than that in eyes not treated with PRP (n = 18). The relationship between the ΔSCT and BFR was not significant (R² = 0.0038, P = 0.80) in the DM group but was significant (R² = 0.54, P = 0.00013) in the NDM group.

Conclusions: The current results may reflect that systemic fluid accumulation has a greater effect on the diabetic choroid, probably due to damage to the choroidal vasculature, in patients with ESKD.