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
. 2023 Sep 18;23(1):379.
doi: 10.1186/s12886-023-03121-x.

Choroid vascular changes in hyperopic anisometropia amblyopia using SS-OCTA

Yiwen Cao  1 , Yadi Zhang  2 , Xiaopeng Gu  2 , Dehai Zhu  3 , Liu Yang  4
Affiliations

Choroid vascular changes in hyperopic anisometropia amblyopia using SS-OCTA

Yiwen Cao et al. BMC Ophthalmol. .

Abstract

Purpose: To observe and understand the structural changes in choroidal vessels in eyes with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA).

Methods: A total of 44 patients were enrolled in this study: 22 children with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia and 22 age-matched controls. SS-OCTA was used to scan the 6*6 mm macular area of their eyes. The average choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal capillary flow area (CC) in a 3 mm diameter area centered on the macular area were obtained. The choroidal vascularity volume (CVV) was automatically extracted and 3D reconstructed by inbuild software, and the three-dimensional choroidal vascularity index (3D-CVI) was calculated. The effect of amblyopia on the choroidal vessel structure was assessed using generalized linear estimating equations (GEEs) corrected for axial length, sex, age, and best-corrected visual acuity.

Results: The CC was greater in amblyopic eyes than in fellow eyes (P = 0.014) but was not significantly different from that in control eyes (P = 0.963). After correcting for sex, age, axial length, and visual acuity using GEEs, the mean CT in the amblyopic eyes was greater than that in the fellow eyes (P = 0.030) but was not significantly different from that in the control eyes (P = 0.160). The 3D-CVI in amblyopic eyes was higher than that in control eyes (P = 0.038) but was not significantly different from that in fellow eyes (P = 0.407). The three-dimensional choroidal vascularity volume (3D-CVV) was higher in amblyopic eyes than in fellow eyes (P = 0.046) and control eyes (P = 0.023).

Conclusions: We found that eyes with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia demonstrated higher CT, CC and 3D-CVV values than the contralateral eyes after correction, while the 3D-CVI was unchanged. Compared with control eyes, amblyopic eyes had higher 3D-CVV and 3D-CVI values but similar CT and CC values. Amblyopic eyes may have different choroidal vascular structures from fellow and control eyes.

Keywords: Amblyopia; Anisometropia; Choroid; Choroidal capillary; Choroidal thickness; Choroidal vascularity index; Choroidal vascularity volume; Hyperopia; OCTA.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
OCTA scan of 6 mm × 6 mm area centered on the macula fovea
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Definition of the choroid and choroidal capillaries. The inbuild software automatically performs layer segmentation. a. Choroid: the region spanning from the outer border of the retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch's membrane complex to the choroid-sclera junction. b. Choroidal capillaries: the area 10 μm above Bruch's membrane to 25 μm below it
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Automatic extraction and computational analysis of choroidal capillary images in a 3 mm-diameter circle centered on the fovea
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
The software automatically extracts the scanned choroidal vessels and performs 3D reconstruction to calculate the CVV and CVI. a The software automatically extracts the choroidal large and medium vessels in each scan image. b 3D vessel reconstruction
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Pan CW, Chen X, Gong Y, Yu J, Ding H, Bai J, Chen J, Zhu H, Fu Z, Liu H. Prevalence and causes of reduced visual acuity among children aged three to six years in a metropolis in China. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2016;36(2):152–157. doi: 10.1111/opo.12249. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Zhang X, Li R, Wang Y, Zhao X, Hao Q, Tong H, Chen P, Yu Y, Liu H. Prevalence, causes and risk factors of reduced VA and persistent reduced VA among preschool children in Eastern China. Ophthalmic Physiol Opt. 2020;40(4):452–462. doi: 10.1111/opo.12692. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Chua B, Mitchell P. Consequences of amblyopia on education, occupation, and long-term vision loss. Br J Ophthalmol. 2004;88(9):1119–1121. doi: 10.1136/bjo.2004.041863. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wang Y, Liang YB, Sun LP, Duan XR, Yuan RZ, Wong TY, Yi P, Friedman DS, Wang NL, Wang JJ. Prevalence and causes of amblyopia in a rural adult population of Chinese the Handan Eye Study. Ophthalmology. 2011;118(2):279–283. doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.05.026. - DOI - PubMed
    1. von Noorden GK. Amblyopia: a multidisciplinary approach. Proctor lecture Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 1985;26(12):1704–1716. - PubMed