Abstract
Background
Mechanisms underlying the rising burden of non-AIDS comorbidities (NACM) among persons with HIV (PWH) remain unclear. Microvasculopathy may link HIV-related chronic inflammation and premature multimorbidity, similar to diabetes and other conditions characterized by inflammatory end-organ damage. We used a novel retinovascular imaging tool, optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), to evaluate the retina as a convenient assessment of microvascular health among PWH.
Methods
Data from 4 PWH who underwent OCTA (Zeiss CIRRUSTM HD-OCT 5000) at the Emory Eye Center from 2018-2020 were analyzed. Demographics, HIV-specific indices and NACM were summarized at the time of OCTA. Images were reviewed qualitatively and metrics of microvascular health – the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and vessel density (VD) from the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) – were calculated by ImageJ.
Results
The median age was 39 years, 100% were male, 100% were black, 25% had ever smoked, and median body mass index was 25.4 kg/m2. Median time since HIV diagnosis was 19 years, all patients had a history of clinical AIDS, including 2 with prior cytomegalovirus retinitis. Median current CD4 count was 84 cells/mm3, 100% were prescribed antiretroviral therapy and 50% had HIV viral suppression. Prevalent NACM included (each n=1): hypertension, dyslipidemia, diabetes, chronic kidney disease and asthma.
Qualitatively, all 7 of the eyes evaluated by OCTA had evidence of microvascular pathology: 2 eyes demonstrated diffuse capillary nonperfusion, while the remaining 5 eyes had focal areas of nonperfusion around the FAZ. Mean FAZ area was 0.31 (SD±0.10) mm2 and mean VD of the SCP was 43.9% (SD±10.9%). Retinovascular pathology identified by fundoscopy and OCTA is shown in the figure.
Figure. Retinal imaging of a PWH with bilateral retinal vasculitis. Fundus photos of the right (A) and left (C) eyes show retinal vasculitis highlighted by the red arrows. OCTA of the right (B) and left (D) maculae (3X3 scan Zeiss AngioplexTM) show the FAZ areas outlined in yellow, both of irregular contour. OCTA of the left macula demonstrates areas of significant flow voids marked by the asterisks and the FAZ area is enlarged.
Conclusion
Among patients with longstanding HIV, OCTA identified microvascular abnormalities in all retinae examined. Retinovascular evaluation by OCTA is a feasible, non-invasive technique for assessing microvascular health and findings support additional study in a larger, more diverse group of PWH. Screening tools targeting microvasculopathy among PWH may aid in earlier detection of those at greatest risk of NACM and allow for aggressive risk-modification strategies.
Disclosures
All Authors: No reported disclosures
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