'Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO)'
Doi
Abstract
Purpose: To associate the change in the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and vessel density
(VD) with final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) in eyes after macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment surgery, and to investigate the evolution of FAZ and VD during
12 months of follow-up.
Methods: We prospectively evaluated 47 patients with macula-off rhegmatogenous
retinal detachment and healthy fellow eyes. At 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, and 12.0 months postoperatively, optical coherence tomography angiography scans were obtained from both
eyes on a 3.0 × 3.0 mm macula-centered grid. En face images of the superficial vascular
plexus, intermediate capillary plexus and deep capillary plexus were used to quantify
FAZ and VD. BCVA was assessed with ETDRS-charts (logarithm of the minimal angle of
resolution).
At 12 months postoperatively, the association between the change in optical coherence
tomography angiography parameters and visual function in study eyes was evaluated
using the Spearman correlation coefficient. We calculated the BCVA difference and the
percentage difference of FAZ and VD between the study and control eye. The evolution
of FAZ and VD was investigated with linear mixed-effects models with nested random
effects (eyes nested within patients).
Results: At 12 months postoperatively, FAZ difference of the deep capillary plexus
and BCVA difference were correlated (P = 0.0004, rs = 0.5). Furthermore, there was no
evidence that FAZ and VD changed during follow-up.
Conclusions: Although FAZ and VD remained stable during 12 months after surgery
for macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, a smaller FAZ in the deep capillary
plexus is associated with better BCVA.
Translational relevance: Reduction in FAZ area may be caused by angiogenesis to
counteract ischemia, therefore therapeutic stimulation of angiogenesis could be beneficial to visual recovery