Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Dec;33(12):1961-1968.
doi: 10.1038/s41433-019-0573-1. Epub 2019 Sep 16.

Deep perifoveal vessel density as an indicator of capillary loss in high myopia

Dan Cheng  1 , Qi Chen  1 , Yufei Wu  1 , Xueting Yu  1 , Meixiao Shen  1 , Xiran Zhuang  1 , Zhongxu Tian  1 , Ye Yang  1 , Jianhua Wang  2 , Fan Lu  1 , Lijun Shen  3
Affiliations

Deep perifoveal vessel density as an indicator of capillary loss in high myopia

Dan Cheng et al. Eye (Lond). 2019 Dec.

Abstract

Objectives: This study investigates the macular vasculature of both vascular layers in different degrees of myopia by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods: One hundred and forty-five eyes of 145 healthy subjects with spherical equivalents (SE) ranging from +0.50 to -16.50 dioptres were divided into three groups. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and vessel density (VD) of OCTA images were compared.

Results: Compared with other groups, high myopia had a larger FAZ and less perifoveal VD in both layers and less deep total VD. Compared with other myopia, high myopia had less total VD in the superficial layer and parafoveal VD in the deep layer. Between emmetropia and low myopia, there was a difference only in the deep parafoveal VD. Except for the parafoveal VD in both layers and the superficial total VD, there were significant correlations of the FAZ with axial length (AL) and SE as well as VD. The deep perifoveal VD was most associated with high myopia.

Conclusions: An increased FAZ and decreased VD in both layers were correlated with AL elongation. The decreasing deep perifoveal VD was most associated with high myopia. OCTA may provide additional information regarding the progression of pathologies in high myopia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Representative optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and post-processed images illustrating the automated analysis algorithm before magnification correction. An original OCTA image in the superficial (a) and deep (e) retinal layers from a high myopic eye, respectively; b, f The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) was separated from the background image and the area was automatically measured; a skeletonized image in the superficial (c) and deep (g) retinal layers, respectively. These images were used for vessel density(VD) analysis. d Total VD was calculated for the ring-shaped area between a 0.5 and 1.25 mm radius from the fovea centre. h C1 and C2 were 0.5–0.875 and 0.875–1.25 mm radius ring-shaped areas from the fovea centre, respectively
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
FAZ and vessel density (VD) in the superficial (top) and deep (bottom) vascular layers among three groups. FAZ foveal avascular zone, VD vessel density. *P < 0.05, **P ≤ 0.01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Flitcroft DI. The complex interactions of retinal, optical and environmental factors in myopia aetiology. Prog Retin Eye Res. 2012;31:622–60. - PubMed
    1. Xu L, Li Y, Wang S, Wang Y, Wang Y, Jonas JB. Characteristics of highly myopic eyes: the Beijing eye study. Ophthalmology. 2007;114:121–6. - PubMed
    1. Benavente-Perez A, Hosking SL, Logan NS, Broadway DC. Ocular blood flow measurements in healthy human myopic eyes. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol. 2010;248:1587–94. - PubMed
    1. Kaiser HJ, Schoetzau A, Stumpfig D, Flammer J. Blood-flow velocities of the extraocular vessels in patients with high-tension and normal-tension primary open-angle glaucoma. Am J Ophthalmol. 1997;123:320–7. - PubMed
    1. Kaneko Y, Moriyama M, Hirahara S, Ogura Y, Ohno-Matsui K. Areas of nonperfusion in peripheral retina of eyes with pathologic myopia detected by ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography. Investig Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2014;55:1432–9. - PubMed

Publication types