Choroid vascular changes in hyperopic anisometropia amblyopia using SS-OCTA

Abstract Purpose To observe and understand the structural changes in choroidal vessels in eyes with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA). Methods A total of 44 patients were enrolled in this study: 22 children with hyperopic anisomet...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yiwen Cao, Yadi Zhang, Xiaopeng Gu, Dehai Zhu, Liu Yang
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2023-09-01
Series:BMC Ophthalmology
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Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1186/s12886-023-03121-x
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Summary:Abstract Purpose To observe and understand the structural changes in choroidal vessels in eyes with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA). Methods A total of 44 patients were enrolled in this study: 22 children with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia and 22 age-matched controls. SS-OCTA was used to scan the 6*6 mm macular area of their eyes. The average choroidal thickness (CT) and choroidal capillary flow area (CC) in a 3 mm diameter area centered on the macular area were obtained. The choroidal vascularity volume (CVV) was automatically extracted and 3D reconstructed by inbuild software, and the three-dimensional choroidal vascularity index (3D-CVI) was calculated. The effect of amblyopia on the choroidal vessel structure was assessed using generalized linear estimating equations (GEEs) corrected for axial length, sex, age, and best-corrected visual acuity. Results The CC was greater in amblyopic eyes than in fellow eyes (P = 0.014) but was not significantly different from that in control eyes (P = 0.963). After correcting for sex, age, axial length, and visual acuity using GEEs, the mean CT in the amblyopic eyes was greater than that in the fellow eyes (P = 0.030) but was not significantly different from that in the control eyes (P = 0.160). The 3D-CVI in amblyopic eyes was higher than that in control eyes (P = 0.038) but was not significantly different from that in fellow eyes (P = 0.407). The three-dimensional choroidal vascularity volume (3D-CVV) was higher in amblyopic eyes than in fellow eyes (P = 0.046) and control eyes (P = 0.023). Conclusions We found that eyes with hyperopic anisometropic amblyopia demonstrated higher CT, CC and 3D-CVV values than the contralateral eyes after correction, while the 3D-CVI was unchanged. Compared with control eyes, amblyopic eyes had higher 3D-CVV and 3D-CVI values but similar CT and CC values. Amblyopic eyes may have different choroidal vascular structures from fellow and control eyes.
ISSN:1471-2415