Objective. To evaluate macular perfusion changes following intravitreal bevacizumab injections for diabetic macular edema (DME) using spectral domain optical coherence tomography angiography (SD-OCTA). Methods. This study was a prospective noncomparative interventional case series. Treatment naïve patients with DME underwent full ophthalmological examination and SD-OCTA scanning at baseline and after 3 intravitreal bevacizumab injections. Both the 6 × 6 and 3 × 3 mm macular scan protocols were used. Pretreatment and posttreatment OCTA images were automatically aligned using a commercially available retina alignment software (i2k Align Retina software); then the fractal dimension (FD), vascular density (VD), and skeleton VD changes were obtained at the full retinal thickness (Full) and superficial (SCP) and deep (DCP) capillary plexuses after processing images using a semiautomated program. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) was manually measured and FD was calculated using the FracLac plugin of ImageJ. Results. Forty eyes of 26 patients were included. Following injections, there were an 8.1% increase in FAZ, 1.3% decrease in FD-Full and FD-SCP, 1.9% decrease in FD-DCP, 8% decrease in VD-Full, 9.1% decrease in VD-SCP, 10.6% decrease in VD-DCP, 13.3% decrease in skeleton VD-Full, 12.5% decrease in skeleton VD-SCP, and 16.3% decrease in skeleton VD-DCP in the 6 × 6 mm macular area and a 2.6% decrease in FD-Full, 3.4% decrease in FD-SCP, 11.5% decrease in VD-Full, 14.3% decrease in VD-SCP, and 25.1% decrease in skeleton VD-SCP in the 3 × 3 mm macular area which were all statistically significant p<0.05. Using univariate and multivariate analysis, the pretreatment FD, VD, and skeleton VD at each capillary layer significantly negatively correlated with the change in FD, VD, and skeleton VD at the corresponding capillary layer, respectively p<0.05. Conclusion. OCTA is a useful noninvasive tool for quantitative evaluation of macular perfusion changes following DME treatment. This trial is registered with NCT03246152.
Telangiectasia of the parafoveal capillaries was detected in the DCP in all cases. Microvascular changes in the superficial capillary plexus and DCP in nonocular Behçet disease can be detected by optical coherence tomography angiography.
A 53-year-old female patient with center-involving diabetic macular edema affecting the left eye was imaged using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in both eyes. She underwent three monthly intravitreal bevacizumab injections in the left eye only and OCTA was repeated in both eyes one month following the last injection and showed decreased vascular density (VD) in the treated left eye but not in the untreated right eye compared to baseline. No further injections were required in either eye, and OCTA was done in both eyes 4 months following the last injection which showed improved VD of the left eye with stable VD in the right. Three monthly intravitreal bevacizumab injections were then required in both eyes; then OCTA was repeated following the last injection and revealed decreased VD in both eyes compared to previous scan. OCTA could be a useful tool for detecting VD changes following bevacizumab injections in diabetics.
Purpose. To evaluate the role of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in early detection of Chloroquine maculopathy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients. Methods. 40 left eyes of 40 female rheumatoid arthritis patients who received treatment chloroquine for more than one year were recruited in the study. All patients had no symptoms or signs of Chloroquine retinopathy. They were evaluated using SD-OCT, where the Central Foveal Thickness (CFT), parafoveal thickness and perifoveal thickness, average Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) thickness, and Ganglion Cell Complex (GCC) measurements were measured and compared to 40 left eyes of 40 normal females. Results. The mean CFT was found to be thinner in the Chloroquine group (238.15 µm ± 22.49) than the normal controls (248.2 µm ± 19.04), which was statistically significant (p value = 0.034). The mean parafoveal thickness was lesser in the Chloroquine group than the control group in all quadrants (p value <0.05). The perifoveal thickness in both groups showed no statistically significant difference (p value >0.05) in all quadrants. No significant difference was detected between the two groups regarding RNFL, GCC, or IS/OS junction. Conclusions. Preclinical Chloroquine toxicity can lead to early thinning in the central fovea as well as the parafoveal regions that is detected by SD-OCT.
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