To examine macular and peripapillary choroidal thickness (CT) in patients with acute unilateral retrobulbar optic neuritis.

In this cross-sectional study, 19 patients with acute unilateral retrobulbar optic neuritis were examined. A control group was matched with patients for sex and age. Enhanced depth imaging- optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) in macula and peripapillary areas in both eyes was performed for evaluation of CT. The CT was measured in subfoveal and other six points of macula, and four points of peripapillary areas with a 3.4-mm scan circle centered on the optic nerve head.

The mean subfoveal CT was 384.7 ± 101.6 µm, 380.5 ± 109 µm, and 401.2 ± 84.6 µm for affected eye, unaffected fellow eye, and healthy control, respectively. All measurements of macular CT were thinner in the patient group compare with healthy controls. Global peripapillary CT in affected eyes, unaffected fellow eyes, and healthy controls were 202 ± 43.3, 195.1 ± 42.9, and 234 ± 71.2, respectively. The difference between three groups was statistically significant in the nasal point of peripapillary area (p = 0.023). No correlation was seen between CT and initial visual acuity or duration from symptom onset to medical survey in acute phase of retrobulbar optic neuritis.

Patients with acute retrobulbar optic neuritis showed no significantly thinner macular and peripapillary CT in both eyes compared with healthy controls.