Arthur Edmund, Ravichandran Swetha, Rothstein Andrew, Brown Keisha, Jonnadula Ganesh B, Murchison Charles F, Grant Maria B
School of Optometry, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Department of Neurology, Heersink School of Medicine, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA.
Transl Vis Sci Technol. 2025 Jul 1;14(7):10. doi: 10.1167/tvst.14.7.10.
To compare the width of the mid-peripheral capillary free zones (CFZs; periarteriole and perivenule) between diabetics with no diabetic retinopathy (DR) versus controls.
The 20° × 20° optical coherence tomography angiography images of paired arterioles, venules, and their adjacent capillaries within the macular and inferomacular regions of the superficial vascular plexus were obtained from 46 eyes of 28 diabetics with no DR (mean age, 59 years; range, 40-71 years) and 46 eyes of 31 controls (mean age, 59 years; range, 46-78 years). There was no significant difference in age between groups (P = 0.77). The macular and inferomacular images were montaged to generate a wider field of view, followed by the application of a vesselness filter and Otsu thresholding. The mid-peripheral CFZ width was calculated using previously established MATLAB algorithms. Generalized linear mixed models were used to compare the mid-peripheral CFZs between groups, accounting for correlation between eyes.
The periarteriole CFZ width was greater in diabetics with no DR (73.3 ± 6.49 µm) compared to controls (67.3 ± 7.08 µm; P < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.88). Similarly, the perivenule CFZ width was larger in diabetics with no DR (60.8 ± 6.40 µm) compared to controls (54.8 ± 4.58 µm; P < 0.001, Cohens' d = 1.08).
Our results demonstrate larger mid-peripheral CFZ width in diabetics with no DR. The mid-peripheral CFZs show promise as a potential novel retinal vascular biomarker for early DR detection.
Our study shows the potential clinical utility of the mid-peripheral CFZs for early DR detection.
比较无糖尿病视网膜病变（DR）的糖尿病患者与对照组中周毛细血管无灌注区（CFZ；小动脉周围和小静脉周围）的宽度。
从28例无DR的糖尿病患者（平均年龄59岁；范围40 - 71岁）的46只眼中，以及31例对照组（平均年龄59岁；范围46 - 78岁）的46只眼中，获取浅表血管丛黄斑和黄斑下区域内成对小动脉、小静脉及其相邻毛细血管的20°×20°光学相干断层扫描血管造影图像。两组间年龄无显著差异（P = 0.77）。将黄斑和黄斑下图像拼接以生成更宽的视野，随后应用血管增强滤波器和大津阈值法。使用先前建立的MATLAB算法计算中周CFZ宽度。采用广义线性混合模型比较两组间的中周CFZ，同时考虑眼间的相关性。
无DR的糖尿病患者小动脉周围CFZ宽度（73.3±6.49μm）大于对照组（67.3±7.08μm；P < 0.001；Cohen's d = 0.88）。同样，无DR的糖尿病患者小静脉周围CFZ宽度（60.8±6.40μm）大于对照组（54.8±4.58μm；P < 0.001；Cohens' d = 1.08）。
我们的结果表明，无DR的糖尿病患者中周CFZ宽度更大。中周CFZ有望成为早期DR检测的潜在新型视网膜血管生物标志物。
我们的研究表明中周CFZ在早期DR检测中的潜在临床应用价值。
