RETINAL MICROCIRCULATION INVESTIGATION IN TYPE I AND II DIABETIC PATIENTS WITHOUT RETINOPATHY USING AN ADAPTIVE OPTICS RETINAL CAMERA.

CONTEXT

State of art imaging techniques might be a useful tool to early detect the retinal vessels lesions in diabetes.

OBJECTIVE AND DESIGN

This analytical observational study investigates the retinal microcirculation changes in type I and II diabetic patients without retinopathy using adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy (AOO) and optical coherence ophthalmoscopy angiography (OCTA).

SUBJECTS AND METHODS

Fifty-five subjects were included in this study and were divided in three groups: type I diabetic group (n=16), type II diabetic group (n=19) and control group (n=20). An adaptive optics retinal camera was used to assess the parameters of the temporal superior retinal arterioles. Moreover, vessel density of the superficial capillary plexus across the parafoveal area was measured with OCT-A. All cases were investigated once, in a cross-sectional design.

RESULTS

Diabetic patients from both groups had a higher wall-to-lumen-ratio compared to the controls (p=0.01 and 0.01, respectively). Interestingly, no significant differences were found between the two diabetic groups (p=0.69). Moreover, the vessel density was smaller in the type I diabetic group than in the control group (p=0.001).

CONCLUSION

AOO might be a useful tool to detect early retinal vascular changes in diabetes before any clinical signs and together with OCTA it might bring important information on the prognostic and pathophysiology of the disease.