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Does thalassemia truly cause microvascular changes without us noticing? An optical coherence tomography angiography study of the children with beta-thalassemia

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Abstract

Purpose

It was aimed to evaluate the retinochoroidal microvascular alterations of pediatric beta-thalassemia patients and investigate the effect of blood transfusion on perfusion among transfusion-dependent thalassemia (TDT), by means of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods

In this multicentered, prospective, cross-sectional study, 56 TDT, 14 non-TDT (NTDT), and 63 healthy children were evaluated. The vessel density (VD) in superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus, radial peripapillary capillary network, choriocapillaris, and the foveal avascular zone area (FAZ) were evaluated by OCTA. Before and after transfusion values ​​of the TDT group were compared, and correlations were made with blood values ​​and iron accumulation.

Results

Foveal and parafoveal zones were significantly thinner among TDT patients, with larger FAZ area. Macula VD of SCP and ppVD was lowest in NTDT group. In the TDT group, a decrease in retinal nerve fiber thickness and ppVD values was detected ​​after transfusion. A negative significant relationship was found between both hemoglobin (Hb), hematocrit (Htc), and ppVD.

Conclusions

OCTA provides a better insight into retinal and choriocapillaris vascular impairment influenced by tissue hypoxia and oxidative stress in different clinical phenotypes of beta-thalassemia.

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Funding

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ankara Training and Research Hospital Ophthalmology Department, Ankara, Turkey

    Umay Güvenç & Nurten Ünlü

  2. Ankara City Hospital Pediatric Hematology and Oncology Department, Ankara, Turkey

    Hüsniye Neşe Yaralı & Namık Yaşar Özbek

Authors
  1. Umay Güvenç
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  2. Nurten Ünlü
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  3. Hüsniye Neşe Yaralı
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  4. Namık Yaşar Özbek
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. The study was designed by UG and NÜ. Data were provided by HNY, NYÖ, and UG. Data collection was performed by UG. The first draft of the manuscript was written by UG and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Umay Güvenç.

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Conflict of interest

Author Güvenç declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Ünlü declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Yaralı declares that she has no conflict of interest. Author Özbek declares that he has no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed patient consent was obtained from all participants.

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Cite this article

Güvenç, U., Ünlü, N., Yaralı, H.N. et al. Does thalassemia truly cause microvascular changes without us noticing? An optical coherence tomography angiography study of the children with beta-thalassemia. Int Ophthalmol 43, 3755–3765 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-023-02786-z

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