Abstract
Purpose :
Assess the real-world clinical benefit of using two imaging techniques in a cohort of patients affected by retinal vascular disease, who underwent both UWF FFA and UWF OCTA, and show the different benefits of both technologies and their impact on clinical management.
Methods :
Retrospective evaluation of imaging results. Case series: 30 eyes (15 patients) affected by retinal vascular diseases: proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), retinal vasculitis (RV) in posterior uveitis.
Mean patient age was 60.43 ± 16.26 years (range: 39-89). Mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.2 (range: -0.1 to 0.4 LogMar).
All patients underwent multi wavelength UWF red/green (RG), infrared (IR), and FFA imaging using the Optos Silverstone (Optos PLC, Dunfermline, UK. Patients were also imaged using a novel SS OCT-A technology allowing for single-scan 130 and montaged 220 degrees field-of-view (26mm scan length,12 mm imaging window depth) using the DREAM OCT®, IntaLight, China.
Results :
Clinically meaningful UWF FFA images and UWF single-scan 130 degrees SS OCT-A were obtained in 30 eyes (100%). Clinically meaningful UWF montaged 220 degrees SS OCT-A were performed in 13 eyes of 10 patients (100%).
Both imaging techniques were comparable in highlighting retinal areas of reduced retinal vascularisation and ischemia as well as the presence of retinal neovascularization in the posterior pole as well as the mid and peripheral retina.
Conclusions :
This pilot study using a new technology allowing single scan UWF OCT-A in parallel to a well-established UWF FFA technology was clinically beneficial, showing higher sensitivity in highlighting and more accurately defining the areas of reduced retinal vascularisation in a rapid and non-invasive way. This could allow for more accurate calculation of the surface area of reduced retinal vascularisation and ischemia as well as in planning targeted laser treatment.
UWF FFA remains clinically useful, as it is superior in showing neovascular activity as leakage and in differentiating intra-retinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMA) from neovascularisation.
We showed excellent correlation of retinal vascular findings and recommend the usage of both technologies in parallel.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.