Quantitative analysis of retinal vessel density and thickness changes in diabetes mellitus evaluated using optical coherence tomography angiography: a cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background Diabetic retinopathy is the most common microvascular complication of diabetes; however, early changes in retinal microvessels are difficult to detect clinically, and a patient’s vision may have begun to deteriorate by the time a problem is identified. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is an innovative tool for observing capillaries in vivo. The aim of this study was to analyze retinal vessel density and thickness changes in patients with diabetes. Methods This was a retrospective, observational cross-sectional study. Between August 2018 and February 2019, we collected OCTA data from healthy participants and diabetics from the First Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University. Analyzed their retinal vessel density and thickness changes. Results A total of 97 diabetic patients with diabetes at different severity stages of diabetic retinopathy and 85 controls were involved in the experiment. Diabetic patients exhibited significantly lower retinal VD (particularly in the deep vascular complexes), thickening of the neurosensory retina, and thinning of the retinal pigment epithelium compared with controls. In the control group, nondiabetic retinopathy group and mild diabetic retinopathy group, superficial VD was significantly correlated with retinal thickness (r = 0.3886, P < 0.0001; r = 0.3276, P = 0.0019; r = 0.4614, P = 0.0024, respectively). Conclusions Patients with diabetes exhibit ischemia of the retinal capillaries and morphologic changes in vivo prior to vision loss. Therefore, OCTA may be useful as a quantitative method for the early detection of diabetic retinopathy.

Early diagnosis of retinal neurovascular injury in diabetic patients without retinopathy by quantitative analysis of OCT and OCTA

“…Similarly, the duration of DM disease is also a risk factor for the development of DR, and the longer the duration of DM disease is, the greater the risk of nerve fiber and vascular damage in the retina. This finding is consistent with some previous studies [ 22 ]. Our updated study showed a negative correlation between the thickness of the inferior and center subdivisions of the GCL and the duration of DM disease, suggesting that RGCs are damaged as the duration of DM disease increases.…”

Quantitative measurement of retinal nerve fiber layer thickness and its correlation with optical coherence tomography angiography vascular biomarker changes in preclinical diabetic retinopathy

“…Temporal RNFL thickness was positively correlated with the vessel density of the superficial retinal vascular layer. [ 16 ] In the present study, we have taken average RNFL thickness and average vessel density as well as superior and temporal quadrant RNFL thickness and vessel density specifically and found comparable results to the aforesaid findings of earlier studies.…”

Assessment of a Novel Semi-Automated Algorithm for the Quantification of the Parafoveal Capillary Network

“…Studies on normal subjects or diabetic patients using OCT-A support that it is characterized by satisfactory repeatability and sensitivity and could detect retinal vascular diseases at an early stage. [24][25][26][27][28] Recently, efforts to register images of a specified retinal area resulting from FA and OCT-A have been recorded. It was concluded that these imaging modalities complement each other successfully regarding imaging and interpretation of vascular diseases, as success rate was 98.8% and best mean execution time was less than 5 sec per image.…”