Abstract
Purpose :
Retinal vein occlusion is one of the leading causes of visual impairment and often associated with cardiovascular disease. OCT angiography offers a fast and non-invasive analysis of the vasculature. The pathomechanism underlying this retinal disease is still not clarified completely. Hence, we investigated the changes in the retinal and choroidal microvasculature in eyes with retinal vein occlusion compared to the contralateral not effected eye and healthy controls.
Methods :
Twenty eyes of twenty treated patients with RVO and twenty healthy age matched controls were included in this observational study. Each participant underwent a full ophthalmic examination. The vessel density of the superficial and deep plexus, retinal thickness, the flow area of the choriocapillaris, choroidal thickness, choroidal vessel index and choroidal vessel volume were evaluated using ulta wide-field SS-OCTA imaging (26x21mm VG200S; SVision Imaging 2.1.016).
Results :
The mean vessel density of the deep plexus between the affected and the contralateral eye was significantly lower (p<0.01), whereas there was no difference between the fellow eye and the control group. Additionally, the choroidal thickness was significantly lower in the affected eye compared to the fellow eye. There was no difference in choroidal thickness between the fellow eye and the control group. No significant difference could be detected in the superficial plexus and the flow area in the choriocapillaris. Interestingly, the choroidal vessel index (CVI) and the choroidal vessel volume (CVV) was not different between the affected eye and the fellow eye, but there was a significant difference between the fellow eye and the control group (CVI p=0.042 and CVV p=0.004).
Conclusions :
Ultra-wide field OCTA imaging is useful for the evaluation of ocular perfusion in patients with RVO. Choroidal Vessel index and Choroidal Vessel Volume may serve as an indicator for eyes at risk for retinal vein occlusion. Further studies with larger sample size are needed to evaluate the association of these values and retinal vein occlusions.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.