Hammer Daniel X, Kovalick Katherine, Saeedi Osamah J, Chew Emily Y, Cukras Catherine, Liu Zhuolin
Division of Biomedical Physics, Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, Center for Devices and Radiological Health, U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Silver Spring, Maryland, United States.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, United States.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2025 Sep 2;66(12):26. doi: 10.1167/iovs.66.12.26.
To assess macular choriocapillaris (CC) metrics in healthy volunteers (HVs) without ocular disease and demonstrate CC variations in patients with inherited retinal dystrophies (IRDs) using adaptive optics optical coherence tomography angiography (AO-OCTA).
Twenty-one HVs and three IRD patients were imaged. Macular variation in 20 HVs in CC metrics (CC density, CC diameter, CC tortuosity, void diameter, void area, lobule count, lobule area, and RPE-CC distance) were assessed by imaging a 28° strip of overlapping AO-OCTA volumes (3° × 3°) from the optic nerve head to the temporal macula. En face projections of the CC at 1° intervals across the strip were created and metrics extracted using custom software.
CC density was mostly invariant across the macula at 0.523 ± 0.006, although it was slightly higher in the foveal region. The CC diameter decreased monotonically from 15.9 ± 0.7 µm in the nasal macula (-12°) to 14.2 ± 1.1 µm in the temporal macula (12°). Void measures also decreased from the nasal to the temporal macula: from 16.2 ± 1.4 µm to 14.6 ± 1.2 µm for void diameter and from 1418 ± 436 µm2 to 1243 ± 364 µm2 for void area. Lobule count peaked in the central macula. RPE-CC distance peaked at the fovea (fovea, 16.8 µm; periphery, ∼13-14 µm). CC tortuosity (1.17 ± 0.01) was constant across the macula. We observed a correlation with age in CC density, void diameter, and void area. AO-OCTA detected subclinical flow dropout in drusen regions. CC changes were observed in IRD patients with characteristics specific to the disease.
Normative AO-OCTA-based CC metrics can provide insight into ocular disease pathology.
评估无眼部疾病的健康志愿者（HV）的黄斑脉络膜毛细血管（CC）指标，并使用自适应光学光学相干断层扫描血管造影（AO-OCTA）展示遗传性视网膜营养不良（IRD）患者的CC变化。
对21名HV和3名IRD患者进行成像。通过对从视神经乳头到颞侧黄斑的28°重叠AO-OCTA体积条带（3°×3°）进行成像，评估20名HV的CC指标（CC密度、CC直径、CC迂曲度、无血管区直径、无血管区面积、小叶计数、小叶面积和RPE-CC距离）的黄斑变化。在条带上每隔1°创建CC的正面投影，并使用定制软件提取指标。
CC密度在黄斑区大多不变，为0.523±0.006，尽管在中央凹区域略高。CC直径从鼻侧黄斑（-12°）的15.9±0.7μm单调下降至颞侧黄斑（12°）的14.2±1.1μm。无血管区测量值也从鼻侧黄斑向颞侧黄斑减小：无血管区直径从16.2±1.4μm降至14.6±1.2μm，无血管区面积从1418±436μm²降至1243±364μm²。小叶计数在黄斑中心达到峰值。RPE-CC距离在中央凹处达到峰值（中央凹，16.8μm；周边，约13 - 14μm）。CC迂曲度（1.17±0.01）在整个黄斑区恒定。我们观察到CC密度、无血管区直径和无血管区面积与年龄相关。AO-OCTA在玻璃膜疣区域检测到亚临床血流缺失。在IRD患者中观察到具有疾病特异性特征的CC变化。
基于AO-OCTA的规范性CC指标可为眼部疾病病理学提供见解。
