Evaluation of flow of chorioretinal capillaries in healthy black and white subjects using optical coherence tomography angiography

Nathalie Massamba,Dimitra Skondra,Lindsay Y Chun,Seenu M Hariprasad,Rose C Dimitroyannis,Anna G Mackin,Bahram Bodaghi,Sarah Rodriguez

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-01380-6

Nathalie Massamba, Dimitra Skondra + Show 6 more

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https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-01380-6

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This study compared macular capillary parameters between healthy black and white subjects using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). We measured vessel density (VD) of superficial (SCP), intermediate (ICP), and deep (DCP) capillary plexuses and choriocapillaris blood flow area (BFA) of the fovea, parafovea and total 3 mm-diameter circular area centered on the fovea, as well as the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters, controlling for axial length. Black subjects had lower foveal and parafoveal VD in the SCP (p = 0.043 and p = 0.014) and the ICP (p = 0.014 and p = 0.002). In the DCP, black subjects had a trend toward lower foveal and parafoveal VD. Black subjects had decreased choriocapillaris BFA in the total 3 mm area (p = 0.011) and the parafovea (p = 0.033), larger FAZ area (p = 0.006) and perimeter (p = 0.014), and a higher capillary density in a 300 μm wide region around the FAZ (FD-300) (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in FAZ acircularity index. To our knowledge, this is the first report analyzing the three distinct retinal capillary plexuses and identifying differing baseline VD, choriocapillaris and FAZ parameters in healthy young black compared to white subjects. Larger studies are needed to validate these findings and better understand racial differences in vulnerability to ocular diseases.

Highlights

This study compared macular capillary parameters between healthy black and white subjects using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)
Our study aims at comparing baseline retinal vascular parameters including vessel density (VD) of superficial capillary plexus (SCP), intermediate capillary plexus (ICP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP), choriocapillaris blood flow area
There were no significant differences in the demographics, refractive error, or axial length parameters between the two racial groups (Table 1)

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Introduction

This study compared macular capillary parameters between healthy black and white subjects using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). We measured vessel density (VD) of superficial (SCP), intermediate (ICP), and deep (DCP) capillary plexuses and choriocapillaris blood flow area (BFA) of the fovea, parafovea and total 3 mm-diameter circular area centered on the fovea, as well as the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters, controlling for axial length. There was no significant difference in FAZ acircularity index To our knowledge, this is the first report analyzing the three distinct retinal capillary plexuses and identifying differing baseline VD, choriocapillaris and FAZ parameters in healthy young black compared to white subjects. Better understanding of baseline characteristics of the three retinal capillary plexuses and the choriocapillaris in black as compared to white subjects may contribute to our understanding of the role of race as a risk factor in retinal vascular diseases and glaucoma. Our study aims at comparing baseline retinal vascular parameters including vessel density (VD) of SCP, ICP and DCP, choriocapillaris blood flow area. (BFA), as well as characteristics of foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in healthy young black and white individuals using OCTA, in an effort to identify any differences that may in turn have clinical implications

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