The Relationship between Choroidal Thickness and Liver Damage in Simple Auto-immune Hepatitis Patients

Abstract

Background: There was no sufficient clinical evidence on the relationship between auto-immune hepatitis (AIH) and risk of eye illness, except 11 uveitis cases where related AIH is reported currently. Aim: To determine the relationship between choroidal thickness (ChT) and liver damage in simple AIH patients without ocular symptoms after oral prednisone treatment. Patients and Methods: This prospective observational study included simple AIH patients. The patients’ ChT was measured by swept-source (SS)-optical coherence tomography (OCT), and the liver damage was evaluated by alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST). ChT and liver functions were assessed prior to and after treatment. Then comparisons were made prior to and post treatment. The relationships between biochemical indexes of liver injury and ChT were evaluated after a mean (SD) of 24 (1.28) weeks of regular oral prednisone. Results: A total of 35 patients (31 females, aged 45.66 ± 11.62 years) were included. After treatment, ChT was significantly increased in all sectors (including the center sector, superior inner sector, inner nasal sector, inferior inner sector, inner temporal sector, superior outer sector, outer nasal sector, inferior outer sector, and outer temporal sector) (all P < 0.001). After treatment, both ALT (51.34 ± 44.16 vs 255.06 ± 107.84, P < 0.001) and AST (38.66 ± 27.12 vs 164.89 ± 85.58, P < 0.001) were significantly decreased. The increase of ChT in all sectors was significantly related to the decrease of ALT and AST (all P < 0.001). Conclusion: The improvement of ChT might reflect the remission of liver damage in simple AIH patients without ocular symptoms during oral prednisone treatment.