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. 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.

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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

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