Abstract
Purpose :
The purpose was to evaluate in vivo the morphology of retinal vasculature in eyes with inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) such as Stargardt disease (STGD), cone dystrophy (CD) and cone-rod dystrophy (CRD) and in healthy controls.
In this cross-sectional study, we report our analysis on retinal arterioles morphology in eyes with IRDs using adaptive optics technology.
Methods :
The study group consisted of 25 eyes with IRDs: 17 with STGD, 4 with CRD and 4 with CD. The control group consisted of 16 healthy eyes.
The examination was performed using adaptive optics camera (Rtx1, Imagine Eyes, Orsay, France).
The vascular images of retinal arterioles were recorded at least 0.5-1-disc diameter from the optic disc margin, avoiding artery–venous crossings and retinal vein neighbourhoods. The measurement was taken in 3 regions of interest in each eye.
Analyzed parameters were: lumen diameter, total diameter, cross-sectional wall area (WCSA), wall-to-lumen ratio (WLR) and wall thickness (WT1, WT2).
The study was adherent to the tenets of Helsinki declaration and approved by Bioethics Committee at Medical University of Warsaw (KB/87/2015).
Results :
The differences between the study and control groups were found in such parameters as lumen diameter (81.65µm ± 15.61µm in IRDs vs 96.24µm ± 11.82µm in controls, p<0.001, t-test), total diameter (105.26µm ± 17.19µm in IRDs vs 120.52µm ±13.88µm in controls, p=0.001, t-test), WCSA (3574.73µm ± 1073.24µm in IRDs vs 4178.31µm ± 943.56µm in controls, p=0.042, t-test), WLR (0.3 ± 0.08 in IRDs vs 0.25 ± 0.03 in controls, p=0.022, U Mann-Whitney).
There difference in WT1 and WT2 parameters between was unsignificant (WT1: 11.87µm ± 2.33µm in IRDs vs 12.51µm ± 2.4µm in controls, p=0.365, t-test; WT2: 12.02µm ± 2.45µm vs 11.71µm ± 2.14µm in controls, p=1, U Mann-Whitney).
There were no significant differences in neither of parameters between CD, CRD and STGD (p>0.1 in all cases).
Conclusions :
Retinal arterioles morphology in IRDs differs from healthy eyes. This study proves that retinal vascularization changes are a relevant feature of retinal dystrophies.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.