Vessel Density around Foveal Avascular Zone as a Potential Imaging Biomarker for Detecting Preclinical Diabetic Retinopathy: An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study

Purpose: To investigate a subset of diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy with optical coherence tomography angiography, assessing the differences in macular perfusion between diseased eyes and healthy controls. Methods: Monocentric cross-sectional study, including 86 eyes from 43 diabetic patients with no clinical signs of diabetic retinopathy and 78 eyes from 39 controls. Patients underwent 3.0 × 3.0 mm and 4.5 × 4.5 mm swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography. Vessel density (%), foveal avascular zone area (mm2), and avascular density (%) were provided for the superficial capillary plexus and the deep capillary plexus. Results: The foveal avascular zone area at the superficial capillary plexus was larger in the study group compared to controls, irrespective of the area of the slab considered. A meaningful difference was found in the vessel density at the deep capillary plexus of the 3.0 × 3.0 mm slab (p = 0.03). Almost all the variables considered in the study showed a significant within-subject effect. Age significantly correlated with vessel density of superficial capillary plexus on 4.5 × 4.5 mm in both control and diabetic eyes. Conclusion: Diabetic patients with subclinical diabetic retinopathy feature a larger foveal avascular zone at the superficial capillary plexus compared with controls, as well as relative reduction of the vessel density at the deep capillary plexus. These findings might serve as the basis for screening between normal and diabetic subjects.

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Foveal avascular zone area and parafoveal vessel density measurements in different stages of diabetic retinopathy by optical coherence tomography angiography

International Journal of Ophthalmology ◽

10.18240/ijo.2017.10.11 ◽

2017 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Keyword(s):

Optical Coherence Tomography ◽

Diabetic Retinopathy ◽

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography ◽

Vessel Density ◽

Foveal Avascular Zone ◽

Optical Coherence ◽

Density Measurements ◽

Avascular Zone

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Retinal vessel density and foveal avascular zone analysis in patients with psoriasis: an optical coherence tomography angiography study

Journal of Retina-Vitreous ◽

10.37845/ret.vit.2021.30.45 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 30 (3) ◽

pp. 257

Author(s):

Muhammed Altinisik ◽

Faruk Bicak ◽

Emine Mutlu ◽

Emin Kurt ◽

Huseyin Mayali ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Optical Coherence Tomography ◽

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography ◽

Retinal Vessel ◽

Vessel Density ◽

Foveal Avascular Zone ◽

Optical Coherence ◽

Avascular Zone ◽

Retinal Vessel Density

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Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Analysis of the Foveal Avascular Zone and Macular Vessel Density After Anti-VEGF Therapy in Eyes With Diabetic Macular Edema and Retinal Vein Occlusion

Investigative Opthalmology & Visual Science ◽

10.1167/iovs.16-20579 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 58 (1) ◽

pp. 30 ◽

Cited By ~ 66

Author(s):

Khalil Ghasemi Falavarjani ◽

Nicholas A. Iafe ◽

Jean-Pierre Hubschman ◽

Irena Tsui ◽

Srinivas R. Sadda ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Optical Coherence Tomography ◽

Macular Edema ◽

Retinal Vein Occlusion ◽

Diabetic Macular Edema ◽

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography ◽

Vessel Density ◽

Foveal Avascular Zone ◽

Optical Coherence ◽

Vein Occlusion ◽

Avascular Zone

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Quantitative analysis of optical coherence tomography angiography metrics in diabetic retinopathy

Therapeutic Advances in Ophthalmology ◽

10.1177/2515841419897459 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 251584141989745 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Hamid Safi ◽

Pasha Anvari ◽

Dariush Naseri ◽

Hamideh Shenazandi ◽

Pegah Kazemi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Optical Coherence Tomography ◽

Visual Acuity ◽

Diabetic Retinopathy ◽

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography ◽

Macular Thickness ◽

Foveal Avascular Zone ◽

Central Macular Thickness ◽

Optical Coherence ◽

Ellipsoid Zone ◽

Avascular Zone

Purpose: To evaluate the correlation of the visual acuity and diabetic retinopathy stage using optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography metrics. Methods: In this prospective study, optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography images of patients with different stages of diabetic retinopathy were obtained. In optical coherence tomography angiography images, the size of foveal avascular zone, central macular thickness, and vessel density at superficial and deep capillary layers of the macula were measured. In optical coherence tomography images, the presence of intraretinal cyst, disorganization of retinal inner layer, and ellipsoid zone and external limiting membrane disruption were evaluated. The associations between the variables with visual acuity and diabetic retinopathy stage were analyzed. Results: In total, 68 eyes of 38 patients with a mean age of 58.96 ± 10.59 years were included. In total, 34 eyes were categorized as non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, 14 as active, and 20 as regressed proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Univariate analysis showed deep parafoveal vessel density, central macular thickness, ellipsoid zone disruption, disorganization of retinal inner layer, and external limiting membrane disruption had a significant relationship with visual acuity. However, in multivariate analysis, only central macular thickness and ellipsoid zone disruption had significant association with visual acuity ( p = 0.02 and p = 0.01, respectively). There was a significant difference in deep parafoveal vessel density ( p = 0.04), but not in foveal avascular zone area, between different stages of diabetic retinopathy. Conclusion: In this study, the foveal avascular zone area did not correlate with visual acuity and different stages of diabetic retinopathy. Structural abnormalities on optical coherence tomography images with especial focus on outer retinal disruption provided more reliable predictors for visual acuity outcomes in patients with diabetic retinopathy.

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