京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第24498号 / 医博第4940号 / 新制||医||1064(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 中本 裕士, 教授 森本 尚樹, 教授 大森 孝一 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第21629号 / 医博第4435号 / 新制||医||1033(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 伊佐 正, 教授 柳田 素子, 教授 宮本 享 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第24877号 / 医博第5011号 / 新制||医||1068(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 川上 浩司, 教授 森田 智視, 教授 長船 健二 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

京都大学 / 0048 / 新制・課程博士 / 博士(医学) / 甲第20986号 / 医博第4332号 / 新制||医||1027(附属図書館) / 京都大学大学院医学研究科医学専攻 / (主査)教授 富樫 かおり, 教授 羽賀 博典, 教授 別所 和久 / 学位規則第4条第1項該当 / Doctor of Medical Science / Kyoto University / DFAM

Background: The relevance of drusen-like deposits (DLD) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is to a large extent uncertain. Their genesis is proposed to be correlated to immune-complex and complement depositions in the framework of SLE. The intention of this study was to determine potential morphological differences in the choroid and retina as well as potential microvascular changes comparing two cohorts of SLE patients divergent in the presence or absence of DLD using multimodal imaging. Methods: Both eyes of 16 SLE patients with DLD were compared to an age- and sex-matched control-group consisting of 16 SLE patients without detectable DLD. Both cohorts were treated with hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and did not differ in the treatment duration or dosage. Using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) choroidal volume measures, choroidal vascularity indices (CVI) and retinal layer segmentation was performed and compared. In addition, by the exploitation of optical coherence tomography angiography vascular density, perfusion density of superficial and deep retinal capillary plexuses and the choriocapillaris were analyzed. For the choroidal OCT-scans, a subset of 51 healthy individuals served as a reference-group. Results: CVI measures revealed a significant reduction in eyes with DLD compared to healthy controls (0.56 (0.54−0.59) versus 0.58 (0.57−0.59) (p = 0.018) and 0.56 (0.54−0.58) versus 0.58 (0.57−0.60) (p < 0.001)). The photoreceptor cell layer presented significant thinning in both eyes of subjects with DLD compared to control subjects without DLD (68.8 ± 7.7 µm vs. 77.1 ± 7.3 µm for right eyes, p = 0.008, and 66.5 ± 10.5 µm vs. 76.1 ± 6.3 µm for left eyes, p = 0.011). OCTA scans revealed no significant changes, yet there could be observed numerically lower values in the capillary plexuses of the retina in eyes with DLD than in eyes without DLD. Conclusions: Our results illustrated significant alterations in the choroidal and retinal analyzes, suggesting a correlation between DLD and the progression of inflammatory processes in the course of SLE leading to retinal degeneration. For this reason, DLD could serve as a biomarker for a more active state of disease.