The consistency and reproducibility of macular perfusion parameters in early diabetic retinopathy using optical coherence tomography angiography

Abstract

Obejctive To investigate the consistency and reproducibility of macular perfusion parameters in early diabetic retinopathy (DR) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods A prospective cross-sectional observational study. Forty-six patients (46 eyes) diagnosed with mild nonproliferative DR were included in this study. There were 24 males and 22 females, with the mean age of 59.16±10.32 years. Two macular scan sizes of 3 mm×3 mm and 6 mm×6 mm were performed by the same operator, and the same test was performed by another operator. The superficial retinal layer (SRL) and deep retinal layer (DRL) in the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and vessel density (VD) were quantified. The consistency of the two scan sizes and the reproducibility of the same scan size were also evaluated. The consistency was determined by the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). If the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)>0.80, consistency was good; if 0.4≤ICC<0.8, consistency was general; if ICC<0.40, consistency was poor. Results In the 3 mm×3 mm and 6 mm×6 mm scanning sizes, the mean results of the two examiners were calculated. The FAZ of SRL were 0.39±0.13 mm2 and 0.42±0.15 mm2, FAZ of DRL were 0.74±0.22 mm2 and 0.89±0.23 mm2. The VD of SRL were (32.23±2.86)% and (31.91±3.01)%, VD of DRL were (43.73±4.64)% and (45.12±5.49)%. The consistency analysis showed that the ICC of SRL-FAZ and DRL-FAZ were 0.920 and 0.812, respectively; the ICC of VD were 0.833 and 0.830, respectively. The consistency was good. The reproducibility analysis of different examiners in the same scan size was better in the consistency of SRL FAZ and VD. Conclusion OCTA in two scanning sizes to measure FAZ and VD of early DR has good consistency and reproducibility. Key words: Diabetic retinopathy; Tomography, optical coherence; Reproducibility of results; Macular perfusion parameters