Fluorescein Leakage and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Features of Microaneurysms in Diabetic Retinopathy.

Ruoyu Chen,Anyi Liang,Yesheng Chen,Jie Yao,Liang Zhang,Xuenan Zhuang,Zicheng Wang,Dan Cao,Yunkao Zeng,Akira Sugawara

doi:10.1155/2022/7723706

Abstract

Results Thirty-six, fifty-two, and seventy-nine MAs showed no, mild, and severe leakage on FA, respectively. Most MAs (61.7%) were centered in the inner nuclear layer. Cystoid spaces were observed adjacent to 60 (35.9%) MAs. MAs with severe leakage had a statistically higher flow proportion compared to MAs with no or mild leakage (both P < 0.001). Only 112 MAs (67.1%) were visualized in the OCTA en face images, while 165 MAs (98.8%) could be visualized in the OCT en face images. The location of MAs did not associate significantly with FA leakage status. The presence of nearby cystoid spaces and higher flow proportion by OCT B-scan with flow overlay correlated significantly with FA leakage status. Conclusion The flow proportion of MAs observed on OCT B-scans with flow overlay might be a potential biomarker to identify leaking MAs. A combination of OCT B-scan, OCT en face, and OCTA en face images increased the detection rate of diabetic MAs in a noninvasive way.

Highlights

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in working age population around the world [1, 2]
A total of 167 MAs in 39 diabetic eyes were evaluated by fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) imaging
Our results demonstrated that only 67.1% MAs visualized on FA were detected by OCTA, while 98.8% MAs were seen in optical coherence tomography (OCT) en face images

Summary

Introduction

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is the leading cause of blindness in working age population around the world [1, 2]. To correlate optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) characteristics of diabetic microaneurysms (MAs) with leakage status on fluorescein angiography (FA). The characteristics of MAs on OCTA en face, OCT en face, and OCT B-scan with flow overlay were evaluated and correlated with fluorescein leakage status. Cystoid spaces were observed adjacent to 60 (35.9%) MAs. MAs with severe leakage had a statistically higher flow proportion compared to MAs with no or mild leakage (both P < 0:001). The presence of nearby cystoid spaces and higher flow proportion by OCT B-scan with flow overlay correlated significantly with FA leakage status. The flow proportion of MAs observed on OCT B-scans with flow overlay might be a potential biomarker to identify leaking MAs. A combination of OCT B-scan, OCT en face, and OCTA en face images increased the detection rate of diabetic MAs in a noninvasive way

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Conclusion