Abstract
Purpose :
To examine normative macular choriocapillaris vasculature and to establish new objective method of hypertensive vascular change replacing the subjective Keith–Wagener–Barker (KWB) classification by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Methods :
A total of 567 volunteers who attended a basic health check-up supported by a local government in August 2016 were reviewed. This check-up (the Yakumo study) was conducted in the town of Yakumo in a rural area of southern Hokkaido, Japan. Choriocapillaris vessel density (VD), vessel length (VL), and vascular diameter index (VDI) in a 3 × 3 mm macular area were measured by OCTA. Ocular factors (visual acuity, Intraocular pressure [IOP], axial length [AL], and KWB grading); systemic factors (sex, age, body mass index, and blood pressure); and medications (antihypertensive, hypoglycemic, and antihyperlipidemic drugs) were evaluated and multiple linear regression analysis was used to identify these factors affecting choriocapillaris vasculature.
Results :
We determine the difference in the macular choriocapillaris vascular profile between healthy eyes by measuring 106 eyes of 53 healthy subjects and detected significant differences of normative choriocapillaris vasculature between right eye and left eye. We also evaluated normative macular choriocapillaris vascular profile from 308 right eyes of 308 healthy subjects and revealed the correlations between age, IOP, AL and choriocapillaris vasculature. VD in the fovea area was correlated with age only (P = 0.002, β = -0.060). The analysis with 206 right eyes [KWB Grade 0, 159 eyes; Grade 1, 35 eyes; and Grade 2, 12 eyes] of 206 subjects revealed that foveal VD was correlated with only KWB (P < 0.001; β = −1.62).
Conclusions :
This is the first report suggesting the OCTA for foveal choriocapillaris measurement might provide the advantage of evaluating the progression of systemic hypertension.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.