Abstract
BackgroundTo examine the retinal structure–vascular-function relationship using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in myopia.MethodsThis was a prospective cross-sectional study comprising 86 eyes of 45 individuals with varying axial lengths and spherical equivalents and no posterior segment abnormalities. All eyes underwent optical coherence tomography with the Spectralis SD-OCT and OCTA with RTVue-XR Avanti; Optovue. Individual macular retinal layer thicknesses and flow areas and vessel densities were measured on OCT and OCTA, respectively. Linear correlations were made between the macular layer thicknesses, flow areas and vessel densities with axial length, spherical equivalent and visual acuity.ResultsThe participants’ mean ages were 33.34 ± 14.45 years, mean spherical equivalent refractions were − 7.17 ± 5.71 D and axial lengths were 25.95 ± 2.41 mm. There were significant positive correlations of foveal angle (r = 0.757, p = 0.001), inner retinal (r = 0.764, p = 0.001) and outer plexiform layer (r = 0.771, p = 0.001) thickness on OCT and vessel densities in deep capillary plexus (r = 0.313, p = 0.003) on OCTA with axial length and negative correlations with spherical equivalents and visual acuity. Significant negative correlations of outer nuclear layer (r = − 0.560, p = 0.03) and photoreceptor outer segment layer thickness (r = − 0.856, p < 0.001) were noted on OCT with axial length and positive correlations with spherical equivalents and visual acuity.ConclusionThe lateral retinal stretching in myopia could possibly explain the correlation between retinal layer thickness, vascular density and visual acuity in these eyes. Further research is required to investigate this.
Highlights
To examine the retinal structure–vascular-function relationship using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in myopia
Relationship between thickness profile and axial length (AL), spherical equivalent (SE) and visual acuity (VA) For the study, individual retinal layer thicknesses at the macular region were measured using the automated layer segmentation algorithm in Spectralis, Heidelberg spectral domain OCT
Significant positive correlations were observed between spherical equivalents and Outer segment (OS) (r = 0.809, p < 0.001) while negative correlations were noted with nerve fibre layer (NFL) (r = − 0.747, p = 0.001), ganglion cell layer (GCL) (r = − 0.649, p = 0.009), inner plexiform layer (IPL) (r = − 0.631, p = 0.012) Inner nuclear layer (INL) (r = − 0.680, p = 0.005), IRL (r = − 0.668, p = 0.007) and outer plexiform (OPL) (r = − 0.707, p = 0.003)
Summary
To examine the retinal structure–vascular-function relationship using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in myopia. Myopia is a risk factor for several retinal pathologies such as retinal (2019) 6:8 in axial resolution and image processing methods, OCT-based in vivo macular thickness measurements of the intraretinal layers have been made possible. Automated layer segmentation algorithms have been developed to analyse the individual intraretinal layer thicknesses [7,8,9,10]. These studies have shown that the thickness of specific retinal layers can help to diagnose and monitor pathologic changes in the macula resulting from retinal diseases [11], glaucoma [12] and optic neuropathy [13]. It is important to determine if there is any correlation between the retinal structure and visual acuity in myopic patients
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