Abstract
The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in peripapillary microvasculature using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in systemic hypertension (HTN) patients. This was a cross-sectional study. Based on the duration of HTN, seventy-eight HTN patients were divided into two groups. (HTN group 1: <10 years, 38 eyes; HTN group 2: ≥10 years, 40 eyes) and 90 control subjects. All subjects underwent 6 × 6 mm OCTA scan centered on the optic nerve head. We analyzed peripapillary vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PD) in superficial capillary plexus among three groups. The average ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses of HTN group 2 were thinner than those of the control group (p = 0.016, and 0.035, respectively). HTN group 2 showed lower peripapillary VD and PD than the control group. However, there were no differences between HTN group 1 and the control group in OCT and peripapillary OCTA parameters. In HTN patients, the peripapillary VD, PD and GC-IPL, RNFL thicknesses correlated significantly. OCTA showed that the peripapillary VD and PD were lower in HTN patients with a duration ≥10 years compared with those of normal controls. Peripapillary microvasculature was correlated with the RNFL and GC-IPL thicknesses. HTN duration should therefore be considered when evaluating peripapillary microvasculature using OCTA.
Highlights
The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in peripapillary microvasculature using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in systemic hypertension (HTN) patients
In our previous OCT study, the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses were lower in chronic HTN and relieved hypertensive retinopathy (HTNR) patients than normal controls[3,4], in previous optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) studies, foveal microvascular perfusion was decreased, which correlated with GC-IPL thinning in patients with HTN5,6
There were no significant difference among the three groups in age, sex, laterality, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), spherical equivalent (SE), intraocular pressure (IOP), axial length (AL), and signal strength (SS) of OCTA images (Table 1)
Summary
The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in peripapillary microvasculature using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in systemic hypertension (HTN) patients. The average ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses of HTN group 2 were thinner than those of the control group (p = 0.016, and 0.035, respectively). In our previous OCT study, the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) and peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thicknesses were lower in chronic HTN and relieved HTNR patients than normal controls[3,4], in previous optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) studies, foveal microvascular perfusion was decreased, which correlated with GC-IPL thinning in patients with HTN5,6. We analyzed changes in peripapillary microvasculature in patients with HTN using OCTA, and identified the associations between OCT and peripapillary OCTA parameters
Published Version (Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have