Abstract
Purpose To determine the vessel density of the superior (SCP) and deep retinal capillary plexuses (DCP) in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods This was a cross-sectional study. A total of 25 eyes of 25 healthy volunteers and 30 eyes of 17 patients with RP were evaluated in this study. The integrity of the ellipsoid zone in the macular fovea was evaluated as an intact or defect using a spectral-domain OCT. Commercial spectral domain coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) was used to scan the macular region of approximately 3 × 3 mm2. The vessel density in the SCP and DCP were calculated after appropriate layer segmentation and removal of projection artifacts. The central retinal thickness (CRT) was measured with automated software. The vessel densities in the SCP and DCP were compared between different groups using SPSS. Results A total of 25 eyes of 25 healthy subjects and 30 eyes of 17 patients with RP were evaluated in the study. There was no significant difference in ages between the two groups (F = 0.065 and P=0.937). There was a significant difference in SCP and DCP between the patients with RP and healthy individuals (P < 0.001 and P < 0.001). The DCP was significantly reduced in the parafovea region between the macular intact and defect groups (P < 0.05), except in the fovea and nasal regions. After linear regression, the DCP/SCP ratio in the whole, fovea, and parafovea regions was closely related to the DCP vessel density (P < 0.05), and CRT in the fovea and parafovea was not related to the whole DCP (P=0.186 and P=0.539). Conclusion The vessel density decreased in patients with RP, especially in the DCP of the parafovea region. A greater loss of capillaries in the DCP was found when the macular region was involved. The DCP/SCP ratio may be an important indicator of RP.
Highlights
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a wide group of hereditary retinal diseases with a prevalence of 1 in 1000–5000 individuals [1]
Another study reported that the retinal vascular supply was strongly reduced in the rat model of RP, especially in the outer retinal structure; it did not illustrate the vascular condition when the macular region was involved [10]. e macular dysfunction always occurred at a late stage, Journal of Ophthalmology and the visual acuity (VA) was always poor in patients with RP [11]
Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) has been used to measure the retinal VD to reflect the vascular changes [12]. is study aimed to characterize the alternation of retinal VD in patients with RP and to determine whether the reduction in retinal VD was accompanied by macular dysfunction. e present study indicated that the vessel density is decreased in those with a disrupted ellipsoid zone
Summary
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a wide group of hereditary retinal diseases with a prevalence of 1 in 1000–5000 individuals [1]. A previous study found a significant reduction in vessel density (VD) in the whole retinal and perifoveal regions [6, 9]. It did not demonstrate a dynamic change in the disease progression. All the participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic examinations, including medical history, best-corrected VA measurement using a Snellen chart (VA was changed to logMAR for analysis), slitlamp examination, color fundus photography, fundus autofluorescence (FA) imaging using the TOPCON camera (Topcon Corporation, IMAGEnet 200, Tokyo, Japan), SDOCT of the macular region (Heidelberg), and OCTA using Avanti RTVue-XR platform (Optovue, Fremont, CA, USA).
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