Evaluation of the eye posterior segment vasculer structures in pediatric celiac patients

Objective: The goal was to compare ocular findings and changes in posterior segment parameters of the eye in the pediatric Celiac patient group and the control group. It aimed to compare the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and choroidal thickness (CC) and retinal vessel diameter measurements in the patient and control groups. Materials and Methods: This prospective, comparative study included 130 eyes of 130 pediatric subjects who were between 6-18 ages. The study consisted of 70 eyes of 70 Celiac patients who were applied to Adyaman University Faculty of Medicine Ophthalmology clinic for screening of eye involvement, as well as 60 eyes of 60 healthy volunteers who were examined in the same clinic and had normal ophthalmological examination results. Following thorough ophthalmological examinations of all patients, EDI-OCT was used to assess choroidal thickness (CC) in five separate points (subfoveal, 1500 µm and 3000 µm nasal and temporal) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI). A fundus camera system was used to capture color fundus images of all patients. The IVAN software was used to evaluate retinal vessel diameter measurements. For statistical analysis, the SPSS 25.0 program was used. The significance level was set at p<0.05. Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of gender, age and intraocular pressure. Subfoveal, 1500 µm and 3000 µm nasal, and 1500 µm temporal choroidal thickness of the fovea were found to be significantly higher in the Celiac group. The celiac patient group had significantly higher CVI, luminal area, and total choroidal area measurements than the control group. The Celiac group's central retinal artery equivalent and central retinal vein equivalent (CRAE and CRVE) values were found to be significantly higher than the control group. Conclusion: Because CD affects in the pediatric age group and due to ocular inflammation has the potential to affect the retina and choroid, performing eye screening at the time of diagnosis would be beneficial. This scan can benefit from using EDI-OCT as a routine imaging tool. The use of retinal photography enables more objective documentation of retinal vessels. As a result, we believe that EDI-OCT and digital fundus photography analyses have the potential to play an important role in the follow-up of ocular inflammation, early diagnosis of ocular involvement, and assessment of response to treatment in a systemic autoimmune inflammatory disease like celiac disease. To assess the accuracy and general validity of the data we obtained, it should be repeated on a much larger patient series.