Repeatability of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Uveitic Eyes

Abstract

PurposeTo investigate the intravisit repeatability of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in a cohort of uveitis patients.MethodsOne hundred ten patients were imaged twice per eye, per visit, using the Zeiss Cirrus HD-OCT Model 5000 device. To calculate choriocapillaris flow void area (CC FV) 6 × 6-mm images were used, and 3 × 3-mm images were used to calculate vessel density (VD) and the foveal avascular zone area (FAZ) of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP). Repeatability was measured using Bland-Altman analyses and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) with associated coefficient of variation (CV).ResultsThe level of intravisit repeatability differed across indices ranging from moderate to excellent. CC FV had the highest intravisit repeatability with an ICC of 0.980 (95%CI, 0.966–0.989), a CV of 15.9% and Bland-Altman limits of agreement from −0.398 to 0.411 mm2. DCP FAZ had the lowest intravisit repeatability with an ICC of 0.677 (95%CI, 0.510–0.796), a CV of 17.4% and Bland-Altman limits of agreement from −0.395 to −0.355 mm2. Intraoperator repeatability was excellent across all indices.ConclusionsThis study demonstrates that OCTA is a reliable tool to quantitatively assess specific indices of vascular structure in uveitis patients with good intravisit repeatability. However, the range of variability for each index should be taken into account when evaluating clinically meaningful changes.Translational RelevanceThe repeatability of the metrics we have described has implications in supporting the development of OCTA-derived quantitative assessments of the retinal and choroidal vasculature in uveitis patients as potential imaging biomarkers.

HTRA1 Regulates Subclinical Inflammation and Activates Proangiogenic Response in the Retina and Choroid

“…The first objective of this study was to carry out a detailed phenotypic analysis and describe its morphologic and vascular changes in the CAG-HtrA1 Tg mice. Using several in vivo imaging modalities, specifically OCT and OCTA, we accurately obtained non-invasive deep morphological images of the retinal and choroidal layers together with their flow signals, suggestive of the vasculature, through tuneable lasers [ 15 , 21 , 22 ]. On OCT, CAG-HtrA1 Tg mice showed three-dimensional morphological changes of the yellow-white retinal foci and large white lesions.…”

Impact of Scan Tilt on Quantitative Assessments Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

“…Recently, a number of studies have reported on quantitative analysis of the retinal microvasculature using OCTA and have observed high repeatability and reproducibility. [22][23][24][25][26] In contrast, relatively few studies have addressed CC repeatability. 26,27 When evaluating repeatability with two repeated scans at the same position, our results showed a high ICC of 0.950 for CC FD, which is consistent with previous reports.…”

Comparison of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography and Indocyanine Green Angiography in Uveitis

“…[7][8][9] On en-face representations, OCTA can depict areas of choriocapillaris ow de cits and has demonstrated repeatability in uveitis patients. 10 The choriocapillaris ow de cits may represent absent ow or areas of ow that are too slow to be detectable by the OCTA platform. [11][12][13] Further, OCTA has the advantages of being a non-invasive imaging modality with a relatively short acquisition time that could be well utilized in the clinical setting.…”