Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Retinal Vascular Diseases and Choroidal Neovascularization

Abstract

Purpose. To assess the ability of optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCT-A) to show and analyze retinal vascular patterns and the choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in retinal vascular diseases. Methods. Seven eyes of seven consecutive patients with retinal vascular diseases were examined. Two healthy subjects served as controls. All eyes were scanned with the SD-OCT XR Avanti (Optovue Inc, Fremont CA, USA). Split spectrum amplitude decorrelation angiography algorithm was used to identify the blood flow within the tissue. Fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) with Spectralis HRA + OCT (Heidelberg Engineering GmbH) were performed. Results. In healthy subjects OCT-A visualized major macular vessels and detailed capillary networks around the foveal avascular zone. Patients were affected with myopic CNV (2 eyes), age-related macular degeneration related (2), branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) (2), and branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) (1). OCT-A images provided distinct vascular patterns, distinguishing perfused and nonperfused areas in BRVO and BRAO and recognizing the presence, location, and size of CNV. Conclusions. OCT-A provides detailed images of retinal vascular plexuses and quantitative data of pathologic structures. Further studies are warranted to define the role of OCT-A in the assessment of retinovascular diseases, with respect to conventional FA and ICG-A.