Association of OCT Angiography Parameters With Age in Cognitively Healthy Older Adults.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the association of changes in retinal anatomy and microvasculature with age and sex in cognitively healthy older adults.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional study of cognitively healthy subjects aged 50 years and older who underwent optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) to estimate the association between age and sex with ganglion cell layer-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL); central subfield thickness (CST); subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT); foveal avascular zone (FAZ) size; and superficial (SCP), deep (DCP), and whole capillary plexus (WCP) vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PD) measured in the ETDRS 3-mm and 6-mm circle and rings.

RESULTS

Among 141 older adults (72.9% female; median age: 69 years), 282 eyes were imaged. Females had a greater CT, GC-IPL thickness, and FAZ size and a lower CST than males. After controlling for sex, both CT (P = .001) and GC-IPL thickness (P < .001) decreased with age, whereas FAZ size and CST did not. There was a reduction in VD and PD in SCP, DCP, and WCP with age in the 3-mm circle, 3-mm ring, and 6-mm circle (all P < .05).

CONCLUSIONS

There is a significant reduction in both VD and PD, as well as decreased choroidal and GC-IPL thickness associated with aging, even beyond the fifth decade, in cognitively healthy adults. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2020;51:706-714.].