AI Summary & Key Takeaways
AI InsightThis finding reveals a correlation between retinal capillary nonperfusion and outer retinal disruption in eyeswith diabetic retinopathy.
📌 3 Key Takeaways
Abstract
Background/aim: The aim of the current study was to evaluate the correlation between the integrity of the outer retinal layers onoptical coherence tomography (OCT) and objective parameters of retinal microvascular perfusion on optical coherence tomographyangiography (OCTA).Materials and methods: A total of 105 eyes of 54 diabetic patients were included in the study. Integrity of the outer retinal layersincluding the external limiting membrane (ELM), ellipsoid zone (EZ), and interdigitation zone (IZ) was assessed by spectral-domainoptical coherence tomography. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and vessel density (VD) measurements in the superficial capillaryplexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) in all the Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) sectors were evaluatedby OCTA. Associations between the quantitative measurement of the FAZ and retinal VD measurements and outer retinal disruptionswere evaluated.Results: The FAZ area was correlated with outer retinal layer disruption both in the superficial plexus (r = 0.244, 0.228, 0.212, P = 0.013,0.02, 0.031 for the ELM, EZ, and IZ, respectively) and the deep capillary plexus (r = 0.298, 0.234, 0.197, P = 0.002, 0.019, 0.048 for theELM, EZ, and IZ, respectively). A significant relationship was also found between the VD measurements in the SCP and DCP in ETDRSsectors and the outer retinal layers disruption.Conclusion: The results of the current study show a significant relationship between the quantitative OCTA parameters and the integrityof the outer retinal layers. This finding reveals a correlation between retinal capillary nonperfusion and outer retinal disruption in eyeswith diabetic retinopathy.