Assessment of optic nerve head microvascular changes with OCT angiography in diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy.

INTRODUCTION

Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a recently developed technology that enables visualization of retinal and optic nerve head microvasculature. Our goal is to compare optic disc and peripapillary vessel density using OCT-A in diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy (WDR) and healthy controls and to investigate correlations between microvascular changes and diabetes-related risk factors.

METHODS

This cross-sectional study enrolled participants aged 45-65 years, including patients with type 2 diabetes and healthy controls. Participants were categorized into two categories: diabetic subjects without DR (WDR) and non-diabetic subjects (ND). Exclusion criteria included patients with comorbid conditions affecting retinal or optic disc microcirculation. Participants underwent a full ophthalmologic examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and OCT-A. The optic disc and peripapillary microvascular density, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and various vascular metrics were quantified. Statistical analysis included Pearson and Spearman correlations and univariate and multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

A total of 102 eyes of 60 diabetic patients and 74 eyes of 40 controls were analyzed. There were no significant demographic differences between the groups (P=0.7). OCT-A revealed significantly lower whole papillary vascular density (WPVD) in the WDR group (49.02±2.53) compared to the ND group (50.41±2.47; P<0.001). Peripapillary vessel density (PPVD) was also significantly lower in the WDR group (51.69±3.00) compared to the ND group (53.03±2.80; P=0.003). However, no significant differences in RNFL thickness were observed between the groups (P=0.132). Significant negative correlations were observed between RNFL thickness and both age (P=0.047) and HbA1c levels (P=0.039). In contrast, no significant correlations were identified between PPVD and age, diabetes duration, HbA1c levels, or dyslipidemia.

CONCLUSION

OCT-A identified a reduction in optic nerve head vascular density in diabetic subjects without DR compared to healthy controls, highlighting the presence of early microvascular changes in diabetic patients before the onset of DR. Additional research is warranted to elucidate the utility of OCT-A in the early detection and monitoring of DR.