The short-term effects of exercise on intraocular pressure, choroidal thickness and axial length.

PURPOSE: To explore ocular changes in healthy people after exercise. METHODS: Twenty five volunteers underwent exercise for 15 minutes on a treadmill. Measurements of choroidal thickness, intraocular pressure (IOP), ocular biometry, and blood pressure were taken before and after exercise. Enhanced Depth Imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) was used to measure choroidal thickness at the fovea. Intraocular pressure (IOP) was measured by Goldmann applanation tonometry. Ocular biometric measures were collected using A scan ultrasound. Blood pressure was measured concurrently with the acquisition of the scans. RESULTS: Twenty five volunteers (25 eyes) with a mean age of 25.44±3.25 years were measured. There was a significant increase in systolic and diastolic pressure after exercise (P<0.05). The IOP showed a significant decrease after exercise (P<0.05). However there was no significant difference in the mean choroidal thickness, ocular axial length, anterior chamber depth, lens thickness, or vitreous length before and after exercise measurements (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: There was a significant decrease in IOP from exercise without a change in choroidal thickness and ocular biometric measures. IOP and choroidal thickness were not correlated, suggesting that the IOP decrease from exercise is not due to changes in choridal thickness

The Effects of Exercise on Intraocular Pressure and Choroidal Thickness.

<p>IOP: intraocular pressure, CT: choroidal thickness.</p><p>The Effects of Exercise on Intraocular Pressure and Choroidal Thickness.</p

Subfoveal choroidal thickness before and after exercise.

<p>No significant change was observed before and after exercise.</p

IOP before and after exercise.

<p>A significant decrease was observed before and after exercise (p<0.001).</p

The Effects of Exercise on Ocular Biometry.

<p>AXL: axial length, ACD: anterior chamber depth, LT: lens thickness, VL: vitreous length.</p><p>The Effects of Exercise on Ocular Biometry.</p

The Effects of Exercise on Blood Pressure.

<p>SBP: systolic blood pressure, DBP: diastolic blood pressure, MAP: mean arterial pressure, OPP: ocular perfusion pressure.</p><p>The Effects of Exercise on Blood Pressure.</p

IOP scatterplot before and after exercise.

<p>IOP scatterplot before and after exercise.</p

Ocular biometry before and after exercise.

<p>No significant differences were observed before and after exercise.</p