Optical coherence tomography angiography of macular area in diabetic patients and healthy subjects

Abstract

Background Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of the microvessels related to diabetes that most commonly leads to blindness. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is an innovative noninvasive procedure that allows depth-resolved imaging of the microvessels of the retina and choroid. Aim The aim of this work was to study OCTA of macular area in diabetic patients having no diabetic macular edema and in healthy persons. Patients and methods This cross-sectional, prospective research included 55 participants who were divided into two groups: group I included 30 eyes of 30 cases with type 2 diabetes mellitus [having no diabetic macular edema on fluorescein angiography (FA), clinical assessment, and optical coherence tomography (OCT) macular B-scan], and group II included 25 eyes of 25 healthy persons not having any ocular or systemic diseases. Both groups underwent FA, OCTA, and OCT. Two metrics from OCTA images were quantified: foveal avascular zone area and vessel area density at two levels, that is, superficial capillary plexus and deep capillary plexus. Moreover, diabetic changes such as microaneurysms, capillary nonperfusion, and vessel tortuosity were estimated in the two groups. Results Between cases and controls, a statistically significant variance in vessel area density values and foveal avascular zone area was observed in superficial capillary plexus and deep capillary plexus utilizing OCTA. No significant differences were detected between diabetic cases and normal participants regarding central foveal thickness. Conclusions OCTA was capable of detecting microvascular alterations in diabetic eyes before visualization through clinical evaluation or FA. OCTA may be able to rapidly and noninvasively test for diabetic maculopathy.