Systemic Isotretinoin Therapy and Central Macular and Choroidal Thicknesses in Acne Vulgaris: Is There Any Association? Publisher Pubmed



Dehghani A¹ ; Kargar S² ; Faghihi G³ ; Adibi N³ ; Noorshargh P¹ ; Dehghani S⁴ ; Pourazizi M¹ ; Abtahinaeini B³ Show Affiliations
Source: Cutaneous and Ocular Toxicology Published:2023

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the effect of oral isotretinoin therapy on central macular thickness (CMT) thickness and choroidal thickness (CT) using optical coherence tomography (OCT). Methods: CT and CMT thickness of 43 eyes were evaluated at baseline, the third, and sixth month of isotretinoin therapy by spectral-domain OCT. For assessment of CT, OCT measurements were obtained at the fovea with six additional measurements at adjacent locations (at 500–1000 µm temporal to the fovea and 500–1000 µm nasal to the fovea). Results: Forty-three eyes from 43 patients with acne vulgaris, including 33 females (76.7%), who had a mean age of 24.81 ± 6.60 years, completed the study. The mean CMT was 231.49 ± 19.52 at the baseline and significantly decreased to 229.0 ± 19.57 (p = 0.02) and 229.28 ± 18.83 after three and six months, respectively (p < 0.03). The change in the macular thicknesses measured at four quadrants and choroidal thicknesses were not statistically significant during the study (p > 0.05). Conclusion: The result of our study demonstrated choroidal thickness change is not significant in patients with acne vulgaris after systemic isotretinoin therapy during six months of follow-up. The decreased CMT amount was 2.2 microns; even if statistically significant, this amount is clinically insignificant. © 2023 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.