Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and choroidal thickness in psoriasis patients.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES To conduct a comparative study of retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and choroidal thickness of psoriasis patients and healthy volunteers. METHODS This study included 35 severe psoriasis patients, 35 mild psoriasis patients and 35 healthy individuals. RNFL and choroidal thickness analysis were performed by spectral field optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Only patients with psoriasis vulgaris who have not used systemic therapy for the last 3 months were included in the study. RESULTS In the severe psoriasis group, the RSLT thickness was found to be statistically significantly thinner and the choroid thickness was thicker than the mild psoriasis and control group (p 0.05). The correlation between length of the disease duration, RNFL and choroidal thickness was not significant (p>0,05). CONCLUSION The increase in choroidal thickness was found to be significant, while with respect to RNFL thickness, a decrease was evident, a possible indicator of damage to microvascular structures in the choroid and ganglion cells, especially in patients with severe psoriasis. Therefore, choroidal and RSLT thickness measurement with OCT device can assist in the detection of damage to psoriasis.