Retina Vascular Structures Near the Optic Disc and in the Macula in Primary Angle Closure Suspects

Abstract

Purpose : To study the retinal peri-papillary and macular vascular structures in eyes of primary angle closure suspects (PACS)

Methods : Control and PACS subjects were recruited from a community screening. Only one eye per subject was used for analysis. All participants underwent a questionnaire survey, physical and ophthalmic examinations, ocular biometry measurements, and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). We compared basic demographics and vessel structure parameters between control and PACS eyes. Univariate and multivariate linear regression analysis were performed to investigate factors associated with vascular parameters in both groups.

Results : Data from 254 subjects including 155 PACS and 99 controls were analyzed. In the peri-papillary region, PACS eyes showed similar retina nerve fiber layer (RNFL) and vessel densities (VDs) including and excluding large vessels compared to control eyes. Compared to control eyes, all macular OCTA parameters showed significant differences in PACS eyes, including decreased superficial VD (mean=17.23 vs 13.80, p=0.006) and deep VD (mean=31.33 vs 27.92, p=0.004), larger fovea avascular zone (FAZ) area (mean=0.35 vs 0.39, p=0.006) and longer FAZ perimeter (mean=2.29 vs 2.45, p=0.004) . Gender (p=0.039), age (p<0.001), and Garway Heath (GH) superior hemisphere RNFL (p<0.001) were risk factors influencing optic disc VD excluding large vessels (Table 1). Axial length (AL) was the major factor affecting macula superficial and deep vessel densities (p=0.004 and 0.001 respectively), while PACS was independent factors associated with larger FAZ perimeter (p=0.046) (Table 2).

Conclusions : While PACS and control eyes have comparable RNFL and vascular structure around the optic nerve head, macular vascular structures are significantly different, which could precede clinical functional and structural abnormalities.

This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.