Purpose
There has been a recent interest in the association of macular telangiectasia (MacTel) type 2 with central serous choroidopathy and other pachychoroid disorders. This study was performed to assess the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in patients with MacTel type 2 and compare it with healthy controls using swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).
Methods
It was a retrospective case-control study performed at a tertiary eye care center. The cases constituted patients with MacTel type 2 detected over the last 2 years (April 2016 to March 2018). The controls were healthy adults with no posterior segment pathology. The patients were evaluated with color fundus photography, SS-OCT (Triton, Topcon Inc., Oakland, New Jersey, USA) and fundus fluorescein angiography. The cases were staged based on Gass and Blodi classification. SFCT was compared between the two groups.
Results
Sixty-five eyes of 33 patients with MacTel were included. The controls consisted of 61 eyes of 33 healthy age-matched (p = 0.81) and sex-matched (p = 0.31) adults. The mean SFCT in cases (353.0 ± 91.2 μm) was higher than controls (289.2 ± 69.0 μm), and this difference was statistically significant (p = 0.0001). The mean SFCT was different in various stages: 346.6 ± 86.3 μm (stage 2), 334.6 ± 90.2 μm (stage 3), 374.6 ± 94.0 μm (stage 4), and 294.8 ± 68.8 μm (stage 5), though this was not statistically significant (p = 0.28).
Conclusions
The choroid in MacTel type 2 patients was significantly thickened as compared to controls. SFCT may vary as the structural changes worsen over time.