Long-term repeatability of peripapillary optical coherence tomography angiography measurements in healthy eyes

Woo Hyuk Lee,Min-Woo Lee,Cheon Kuk Ryu,Min-Su Kim,Jung-Yeul Kim

doi:10.1038/s41598-021-03469-4

Abstract

This is a prospective observational study to establish the short- and long-term repeatability of measurements of peripapillary optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) parameters in healthy eyes and identify factors affecting long-term repeatability. We enrolled 84 healthy eyes. Participants with a history of any ophthalmic disease (except high myopia) or intraocular surgery were excluded from the study. An experienced examiner performed OCTA using disc-centered 6 × 6 mm scans. All examinations were conducted twice at 5-min intervals at the initial visit and repeated at least 6 months later. For short-term repeatability, the coefficient of variation (CV) was 2.94–4.22% and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) was 0.840–0.934. For long-term repeatability, the CV was 2.73–3.84% and the ICC was 0.737–0.934. Multivariate analyses showed that the axial length (AL) (B = 0.970; p = 0.002) and mean signal strength (SS) (B = − 2.028; p < 0.001) significantly affected long-term repeatability. Measurements of peripapillary OCTA parameters exhibited excellent short-term and good long-term repeatability in healthy individuals. The mean SS and AL affected long-term repeatability and should be considered while interpreting peripapillary OCTA images.

Highlights

This is a prospective observational study to establish the short- and long-term repeatability of measurements of peripapillary optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) parameters in healthy eyes and identify factors affecting long-term repeatability
Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is an advanced, non-invasive diagnostic technique that can visualize retinal blood vessels based on the flow of red blood cells
OCTA provides a detailed view of the threedimensional microvascular structure, which is difficult to visualize during fluorescein angiography because of the diffusion of d ye[1,2]

Summary

Introduction

This is a prospective observational study to establish the short- and long-term repeatability of measurements of peripapillary optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) parameters in healthy eyes and identify factors affecting long-term repeatability. The Cirrus HD-OCT 5000 and AngioPlex software (version 10.0; Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Dublin, CA, USA) quantitatively analyze retinal vessels in the superficial capillary plexus, providing measures of vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PD)[3] These OCTA parameters are calculated automatically and are easy to apply in clinical settings. Glaucoma and neuro-ophthalmic diseases can be diagnosed using peripapillary OCTA4–9 Because such parameters are useful in clinical practice, establishing OCTA repeatability and reproducibility were essential, and long-term repeatability is significant for disease follow-up. We determined the short- and long-term repeatability of peripapillary OCTA measurements in healthy eyes as well as factors affecting the long-term repeatability of measurements

Methods

Results

Conclusion