Central choroidal thickness in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders: enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography findings.

Aim: To measure the central choroidal thickness (ChT) in children and adolescents with anxiety disorders.

Methods: Totally 41 anxiety patients (8-16y) and 35 healthy controls (age-matched) were evaluated. Complete ophthalmic examination was performed. Inclusion criteria were best corrected visual acuity ≥20/20, normal intraocular pressure (IOP; 10-21 mm Hg), and no systemic or ocular diseases according to history. The diagnosis of psychiatric disorders was determined using Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia for School Aged Children Present-Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL). Enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) was used to measure the central ChT.

Results: The mean age was 12.18±3.24y in the patient group and 12.86±3.15y in the control group. Age and gender distribution of the two groups was similar. Central ChT mean value was 353.26±31.9 µm in anxiety patients while 318.75±60.9 µm in the control group. Mean central ChT was statistically significantly higher in the children and adolescents with anxiety disorders than healthy controls (=0.002).

Conclusion: The children and adolescents with anxiety disorders have significantly thicker central ChT than controls. In the larger sample, longitudinal studies will contribute to the use of choroidal differences as a clinical marker for monitoring anxiety disorders.