Relationship between age and subfoveal choroidal thickness and its clinical implications

Abstract

The retrospective study by Lei et al is an investigation of the relationship between age and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in Chinese patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Elements of the study design prevent the generalizability of the study findings, limiting their clinical implications. We recommend consideration of stricter eligibility criteria, other variables like duration of diabetes, interpretation of gender-differences in SFCT, longitudinal follow-up, use of newer choroidal flow indices, comparison of values with normal controls, subgroup analysis to determine the effect of prior treatment, as well as consideration of various real-world scenarios in future studies.

Keywords: Diabetic retinopathy; Optical coherence tomography; Phenotypic sex; Research design; Visual acuity

Core Tip: The retrospective study by Lei et al is an investigation of the relationship between age and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) in Chinese patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Elements of the study design prevent the generalizability of the study findings, limiting their clinical implications. We recommend consideration of stricter eligibility criteria, other variables like duration of diabetes, interpretation of gender-differences in SFCT, longitudinal follow-up, use of newer choroidal flow indices, comparison of values with normal controls, subgroup analysis to determine the effect of prior treatment, as well as consideration of various real-world scenarios in future studies.