Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate by means of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA), early short time retinal, choroidal and macular perfusion changes induced by new-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) in children.
Methods :
Children with new onset T1D performed OCT and OCT angiography (OCTA) at the time of hospitalization and six months later. Full retina, individual macular layers, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer(pRNFL), and vascular parameters (vessel area density (VAD), vessel length fraction (VLF) and vessel diameter index (VDI)) of macular superficial vascular (SVP), intermediate (ICP), deep (DCP) and radial peripapillary capillary plexuses (RPCP) were quantified. Vessel density (VD) and stromal density (SD) of the choriocapillaris (CC) and the choroid (Ch) were measured.
Results :
Forty eyes of 20 T1D children (mean age: 11.4 ± 3.1 years) were studied. Full retinal volume significantly increased (p = 0.001). Mean pRNFL thickness, volume and thickness of the ganglion cell layer (GCL), outer nuclear layer (ONL) and outer retina layer (ORL) significantly increased (p<0.005 for all). At the RPCP and SVP level all OCTA parameters significantly increased(p<0.005 for all). OCTA parameters of ICP, DCP, CC and Ch did not significantly change.
Conclusions :
The increased in thickness and volume of neuroretina detected in the short time in children with new-onset T1D is mainly related to structural changes of specific individual retinal layers. A higher flow at the peripapillary and macular superficial plexuses may be secondary to an autoregulatory response to acute hyperglicemia resulting in an increased metabolic demand.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.