Diffuse choroidal thickening detected by ultrasonography in various ocular disorders.

Diffusely thickened choroid was detected ultrasonically in 207 eyes in various conditions, including: following intraocular surgery (108 eyes), trauma (8 eyes), phthisis bulbi (52 eyes), endophthalmitis (12 eyes), and nanophthalmos (27 eyes). Diffusely thickened choroid was seen by A-scan as a widening of the echo pattern originating from the posterior coats of the eye and by B-scan as a curvilinear echo giving a double contour to the globe. Although B-scan characteristics of thickened choroid consisted of a smooth curvilinear echo in 196 eyes, this echo was irregular with multiple angulations in 11 eyes that had phthisis bulbi. The mechanisms suspected of choroidal thickening were ocular hypotony (sudden or chronic, 154 eyes), impaired drainage in the vortex system (41 eyes), and severe intraocular inflammation (12 eyes).