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Evaluation of optic nerve head microvasculature by optical coherence tomography angiography in myopic patients

Author: Meher Henchiri (Tunisia)

Co-authors: Rahma Saidane, Racem Choura, Asma Khallouli, Khaled Khelifi, Afef Maalej, Riadh Rannen

Purpose

To assess the peripapillary microvascular changes in patients with low-to-moderate myopia using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Setting/Venue

Department of Ophthalmology of the Military Hospital of Tunis, Tunisia.

Methods

We conducted a cross sectional study including 40 eyes of 20 patients having mild to moderate myopic refractive error and 42 emmetropic eyes of 21 healthy age and sex-matched control subjects. The enrollment has been run between September 2020 and February 2021. Refractive error/spherical equivalent was calculated. All included individuals underwent a complete ophthalmic examination including visual acuity, anterior and posterior segment examination and Spectral Domain OCTA. OCTA scans were performed using AngioVue software of the Optovue RTVue XR Avanti. 4.5 mm × 4.5 mm images for the Radial Peripapillary Capillaries (RPC) were obtained. Peripapillary Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) thickness, whole image (wi), inside disc (id) and peripapillary (pp) vessel densities were evaluated.

Results

The mean age was 35.7 ± 5.3 years. The study group included 11 females and 9 males. Mean axial length was 24.25 ±0.91 mm. Mean SE was -3.02 ±1.93 DS. Best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20. Mean of average RNFL thickness in myopic patients was 96.32 ±9.13 µm. Furthermore, there was no statistically significant difference in peripapillary vessel density between low-to-moderate myopic and emmetropic subjects (p= 0.057). Correlation analysis among all subjects showed that the RNFL thickness had positive correlation with spherical equivalent (R = 0.42, p = 0.046).

Conlusions

We didn’t find any significant peripapillary microvascular changes associated with moderate myopia. It can partly be explained by the absence of parapapillary atrophy in our patients. However, further studies are warranted to confirm the mechanism underlying these findings.

Financial Disclosure

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Comments

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