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Ethnic differences in normal retinal capillary density and foveal avascular zone measurements

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Abstract

Background

The purpose of this study was to quantify retinal capillary density and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area in healthy subjects according to their ethnicity, using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods

In this cross-sectional study, all eyes underwent swept-source OCTA (Triton, Topcon, Tokyo, Japan). Macular OCTA scans (3 × 3 mm) were obtained in healthy white Caucasian and black African subjects. The FAZ area and capillary density in both the superficial (SCP) and deep capillary plexuses (DCP) were automatically measured using a custom-made software combining vessel binarization and skeletonization.

Results

Twelve eyes of 12 healthy Caucasians and 15 eyes of 15 healthy black Africans were included in the analysis. The mean FAZ area was significantly smaller, and the overall vessel density (VD) was higher in the SCP and DCP of Caucasians compared to black Africans. The mean FAZ area was 0.26 ± 0.008 mm2 in the SCP and 0.25 ± 0.05 mm2 in the DCP in Caucasians versus 0.33 ± 0.08 mm2 in the SCP (p = 0.01) and 0.37 ± 0.1 mm2 in the DCP (p = 0.03) in Africans. In the SCP and DCP, the mean VD was, respectively, 40.5 ± 0.8% and 47.1 ± 0.5% in Caucasians versus 34.3 ± 1% (p = 0.008) and 40.6 ± 0.9% in Africans (p < 0.001).

Discussion/conclusion

In the SCP and DCP, VD is lower in black Africans compared to Caucasians. In OCTA studies on vascular diseases, ethnicity-matched measurements from healthy subjects should be used for comparisons.

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Availability of data and material

All data are available upon motivated request at Audrey.giocanti@aphp.fr for 1 year.

Abbreviations

DCP:

Deep capillary plexus

FAZ:

Foveal avascular zone

ICP:

Intermediate capillary plexus

OCTA:

Optical coherence tomography angiography

SCP:

Superficial capillary plexus

VD:

Vessel density

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Acknowledgements

Authors acknowledge AVOPH (Association for research and vision-Ophthalmology department Avicenne hospital) that paid English edition and publication fees.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ophthalmology Department, Avicenne Hospital, 125 rue de Stalingrad, 93000, Bobigny, France

    Audrey Giocanti-Aurégan, Linda Hrarat, Fatima Amari, Bahram Bodaghi & Franck Fajnkuchen

  2. Clinical Research Department, Avicenne Hospital, 125 rue de Stalingrad, Bobigny, France

    Gaspard Gazeau & Vincent Lévy

  3. Ophthalmology Department, Pitié Salpétrière Hospital, 91 boulevard de l’hôpital, Paris, France

    Bahram Bodaghi

  4. Centre d’imagerie et de Laser, 11 rue Antoine Bourdelle, Paris, France

    Franck Fajnkuchen

Authors
  1. Audrey Giocanti-Aurégan
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  2. Gaspard Gazeau
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  3. Linda Hrarat
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  4. Vincent Lévy
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  5. Fatima Amari
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  6. Bahram Bodaghi
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  7. Franck Fajnkuchen
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Contributions

L.H. acquired the data and drafted the work; F.A. acquired the data and drafted the work; G.G. was involved in the acquisition of data and analysis and revising the work critically for important intellectual content; V.L., B.B., F.F. and A.G.A. were involved in the conception and design of the work and revising the work critically for important intellectual content.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Audrey Giocanti-Aurégan.

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Competing interests

The authors have no competing interest that might have influence this work. Audrey Giocanti-Aurégan and Franck Fajnkuchen are consultants for Allergan, Bayer and Novartis. Bahram Bodaghi is consultant for Allergan, Bayer, Thea and Novartis. Gaspard Gazeau, Lindat Hrarat, Vincent Lévy, and Fatima Amari have nothing to disclose.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

A favorable opinion was obtained from the France Macula Federation ethics committee (number 2017-1201) who fully approved the study. A written informed consent was obtained from patients to participate the study. In France, collection of ethnical data is forbidden except if there is a scientific impact of the ethnic knowledge. In that case, it is allowed, as in our study.

Consent for publication

A written informed consent was obtained from patients for publication.

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Giocanti-Aurégan, A., Gazeau, G., Hrarat, L. et al. Ethnic differences in normal retinal capillary density and foveal avascular zone measurements. Int Ophthalmol 40, 3043–3048 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-020-01488-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-020-01488-0

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