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Study: Chronic inflammation of familial Mediterranean fever affects choroidal thickness
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COPENHAGEN — Chronic inflammation might have an effect on thinning of the choroid, according to a speaker here.
In a study of 50 patients with familial Mediterranean fever gene mutation and 50 control subjects, Tolga Biçer, MD, and colleagues found statistically significant differences in choroidal thickness between the two groups in central and nasal measurements.
Tolga Biçer, MD
The choroid and retina, which were measured centrally, nasally and temporally at 500 µm intervals, were statistically significantly different at the central and nasal 500 µm, 1,000 µm and 1,500 µm points. Temporal measurements were also thinner, but not statistically significantly so, Biçer said at the Euretina meeting.
No statistically significant difference was seen in ganglion cell complex or retinal nerve fiber layer between the groups, and both groups were sociodemographically similar.
“We excluded the vasculitis syndromes by excluding positive antibodies and microbial immunologic factors in blood, [we excluded] the effects of acute inflammation by excluding acute attack within the last 1 year, and [we excluded] systemic and local factors, which might affect choroidal thickness,” Biçer said.
The study population was recruited from patients known to have Mediterranean fever gene mutations, “so this minimized the bias from the sample size and increased the sensitivity of our results,” Biçer said.
Furthermore, the researchers controlled for age and found the age effect had a nonsignificant impact on choroidal thickness in either group. – by Patricia Nale, ELS
Reference:
Biçer T. Retinal and choroidal changes in adult patients with genetically diagnosed familial Mediterranean fever. Presented at: 16th Euretina Congress; Sept. 8-11, 2016; Copenhagen, Denmark.
Disclosure: Biçer reports no relevant financial disclosures.