Abstract
Purpose :
To analyze the effects of systemic and ocular profiles on choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in treatment-naïve (naïve) eyes with advanced diabetic retinopathy (DR).
Methods :
This study included the patients with naïve DR who did not receive any treatment and underwent routine laboratory evaluations, including complete blood cell count, admission battery, stat battery, and urinalysis. Systemic and ocular factors associated with the change in CVI in eyes with DR were analyzed using univariate and multivariate regression analyses.
Results :
A total of 228 eyes from 138 patients with diabetes, and 33 eyes from 25 age-matched healthy controls, were recruited. The eyes with naïve proliferative DR (0.673 ± 0.022) or severe non-proliferative DR (0.667 ± 0.033) had higher CVI than did eyes with mild-to-moderate non-proliferative DR (0.653 ± 0.037) or normal controls (0.652 ± 0.024). Univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that the CVI in naïve eyes with DR was positively correlated with subfoveal choroidal thickness (P < 0.001), and negatively correlated with serum levels of phosphorus (P = 0.010).
Conclusions :
The CVI is affected by several factors associated with chronic kidney disease as well as choroidal thickness. The advanced stage of retinopathy have an increased tendency of CVI, and phosphorus retention due to chronic kidney disease is associated with decreased CVI.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.