Choroidal Thickness and Carotid Artery Doppler Ultrasound in Diabetic Patients without Diabetic Retinopathy

Resumo

Purpose: To correlate choroid thickness (CT) with carotid arteries ultrasound (US) variables in patients with diabetes mellitus without diabetic retinopathy (DR).

Methods: Cross-sectional study of 17 eyes and 17 carotid US of 17 diabetic patients without DR. CT was measured with EDI-OCT. Common and Internal Carotid Arteries (CCA, ICA) US were performed and the variables: Peak Systolic Velocity (PSV), End-Diastolic Velocity, Resistance Index (RI) and Intima-Media Thickness were measured. Systemic Blood Pressure (SBP) and Ocular Pulse Amplitude were also assed.

Results: CT at 1500 μm inferior to the fovea correlated negatively with RI of ICA and CCA (p=0.022 and 0.035, r=-0.55 and -0.52). CT was not correlated with the other variables. The SBP was positively correlated with PSV and RI of ICA (p=0.003 and 0.03, r=0.69 and 0.53). 

Conclusions: The lack of correlation between carotid US and CT lead us to infer that the diabetic choroidopathy is a localized microangiopathy.