Comparison of subfoveal choroidal thickness in healthy pregnancy and pre-eclampsia

Purpose: Pregnancy is a known predisposing factor for central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC). Choroidal thickness (CT) increases in patients with CSC. This study was designed to evaluate CT in pregnant women. Patients and methods: This was a prospective study. Fourteen healthy pregnant women and seven patients with pre-eclampsia were included. Twenty-one normal subjects were also recruited. CT was measured using enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography. Results: The mean CT of normal subjects, healthy pregnant women and patients with pre-eclampsia were 264.95±21.03, 274.23±29.30 and 389.79±25.13 μm, respectively (normal subjects vs healthy gravidas: P>0.05; normal subjects vs pre-eclampsia: P<0.001; healthy gravidas vs pre-eclampsia: P<0.001). CT decreased from 381.05±22.96 μm to 335.17±9.97 μm 1 week after delivery in patients with pre-eclampsia. Conclusions: Pregnancy itself did not increase CT, whereas pre-eclampsia did appear to result in increased CT. This suggests that additional unknown factors induce hyperpermeability in pregnant women.