Role of Optical Coherence Tomography as a Diagnostic Tool in Macular Diseases

Abstract Purpose To quantitatively investigate the role of deep capillary plexus (DCP) in patients affected by type 3 macular neovascularization (MNV), compared to patients with reticular pseudodrusen (RPD) eyes and healthy controls, using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods In this prospective observational study, a total of seventy-eight eyes of 78 patients were included. Group 1 consisted of 40 eyes of 40 patients with stage 1 of type 3 MNV (22 males, 18 females, mean age 73.7, SD ± 6.60) and group 2 included 38 eyes of 38 patients with RPD (17 males, 21 females, mean age 73.2, SD ± 4.55). The control group included 40 eyes of 40 healthy subjects (20 males, 20 females, mean age 71.4, SD ± 6.36 years). We evaluated the retinal vessel density (VD) of superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) using OCTA. Results Patients with diagnosis of type 3 MNV showed statistically lower values of VD in DCP with respect to controls and to RPD group (p < 0.001), while there were no statistical differences between RPD and control group in macular region. No significant differences in VD of SCP were detected among the three study groups. Conclusion OCTA provides a reproducible, non-invasive detailed quantitative analysis of retinal vascular features and changing in early-stage type 3 MNV patients, which allowed to shed the light on the main role of DCP ischemia in the development of type 3 MNV.

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A Comparison of Radial and Horizontal Macular Optical Coherence Tomography on Detection of Macular Pathology: A Prospective Study at an Academic Institution

Journal of VitreoRetinal Diseases ◽

10.1177/2474126421997053 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 247412642199705

Author(s):

Halward M.J. Blegen ◽

Samuel D. Hobbs ◽

Reggie Taylor ◽

Andrew L. Plaster ◽

Paul M. Drayna

Keyword(s):

Optical Coherence Tomography ◽

Prospective Study ◽

Macular Degeneration ◽

Epiretinal Membrane ◽

Central Serous Chorioretinopathy ◽

Age Related Macular Degeneration ◽

Optical Coherence ◽

Age Related ◽

Macular Diseases ◽

A Prospective Study

Purpose: Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is useful in diagnosing and monitoring retinal pathology such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic macular edema (DME), central serous chorioretinopathy, and epiretinal membrane, among others. This study compared the ability of horizontal (H) 25-, 13-, and 7-cut macular OCT vs 24-, 12-, and 6-cut radial (R) macular OCT in identifying various macular pathology. Methods: This was a prospective study of 161 established patients evaluated at Wilford Hall Eye Center Retina Clinic between September and October of 2019. Pathology included age-related macular degeneration, central serous chorioretinopathy, DME, and epiretinal membrane, among others. Patients obtained 25-, 13-, and 7-cut H raster OCT as well as 24-, 12-, and 6-cut R OCT. Primary outcomes were sensitivity in detecting macular fluid and each macular abnormality. Results: The 24-cut radial (R24) OCT equally or out-performed the H25 (horizontal 25-cut OCT) in detecting macular fluid across all pathological groups. Generally, a higher number of cuts correlated with better detection of fluid. In detecting any macular abnormalities, H25, R24, and R12 had 100% sensitivity. R6 OCT had near 100% sensitivity across all groups, except for DME (95%). Overall, R OCT had better sensitivity (0.960) than H OCT (0.907) in detecting macular pathology. Conclusions: R outperformed H macular OCT in detecting fluid and other abnormalities. Clinically, both scanning patterns can be used by ophthalmologists in diagnosis and management of commonly encountered macular diseases. Technicians may be able to use a variety of these scans to screen for pathology prior to physician evaluation.

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Retinal microcirculation abnormalities in patients with systemic sclerosis: an explorative optical coherence tomography angiography study

Rheumatology ◽

10.1093/rheumatology/keab258 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Adriano Carnevali ◽

Giuseppe Giannaccare ◽

Valentina Gatti ◽

Caterina Battaglia ◽

Giorgio Randazzo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Optical Coherence Tomography ◽

Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography ◽

Flow Index ◽

Digital Ulcers ◽

Optical Coherence ◽

Vascular Abnormalities ◽

Capillary Plexus ◽

Retinal Microcirculation ◽

Vascular Plexuses

Abstract Objectives To investigate subclinical and clinical abnormalities in retinal and choroidal vascular plexuses in patients with SSc by means of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A). Methods A total of 20 consecutive SSc patients were recruited and compared with 20 healthy subjects. Quantitative analysis of vessel density (VD), choriocapillaris plexus flow index (CCP-FI) and choroidal vascularity index were performed on OCT-A images in the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP) and CCP for all patients. Images were further reviewed by two independent readers for the assessment of qualitative abnormalities, including tortuosity, rarefaction areas, megacapillaries and macular-foveal capillaries. Results The DCP-VD in the whole scan and in the perifoveal, superior, inferior, nasal and temporal regions was significantly lower in the SSc group. The CCP-FI was significantly higher in SSc patients. When comparing SSc patients with and without digital ulcers, significantly decreased SCP-VD was demonstrated in the whole, perifoveal, superior, inferior, temporal and nasal regions. No difference in any of the OCT-A parameters was observed when comparing patients with and without interstitial lung disease. Qualitative analysis of OCT-A revealed at least one abnormality in 95% of patients. Conclusion We showed the ability of OCT-A to disclose early ocular vascular abnormalities in patients with SSc. Our results may represent a hypothesis-generating basis for exploring the potential role of OCT-A in diagnosis, monitoring and prognosis stratification in SSc.

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