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Microvascular assessment of macula, choroid, and optic disk in children with unilateral amblyopia using OCT angiography

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the microvascular changes of macula, choroid, and optic disk in children with unilateral amblyopia.

Methods

This prospective cross-sectional study involved 39 unilateral amblyopic children and 39 age- and sex-matched heathy participants who served as control. Vessel densities of the superficial and deep capillary plexuses (SCP and DCP), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, macular thickness, optic disk vessel density, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, choriocapillaris vessel density, and subfoveal choroidal thickness were evaluated by OCT angiography (OCTA). Meanwhile, the correlations of microvascular perfusion and structural changes of macula, choroid, and optic disk were analyzed.

Results

The vessel density of SCP and DCP in the whole macula in the amblyopic group was significantly lower than that in the control group after adjusting for age, axial length, and spherical equivalents (all P < 0.05). FAZ area, macular thickness, RNFL thickness, and the optic disk vessel density were not statistically different between the amblyopic group and the control group (all P > 0.05). Subfoveal choroidal thickness of amblyopic eyes was significantly higher than that of control eyes(P = 0.032). Choriocapillaris flow void (FV) in the amblyopic group was greater than that in the control group (P = 0.013). Significant differences were observed between the fellow eyes and the control eyes in choriocapillaris FV and subfoveal choroidal thickness (P = 0.011 and P = 0.042, respectively). Foveal SCP and DCP vessel density in all studied eyes were positively correlated with the whole macular thickness, respectively (r = 0.556 and r = 0.627, respectively, both P < 0.001). Whole SCP and DCP vessel density in the amblyopic eyes were negatively correlated with choriocapillaris FV (r = -0.723, P < 0.001; r = -0.512, P = 0.001, respectively).

Conclusion

Children with amblyopic eyes have attenuated macular and choriocapillaris perfusion. There is a need for future studies that will investigate the pathophysiology of amblyopia in children by OCTA.

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Data availability

Data are available upon request.

Abbreviations

SCP:

Superficial capillary plexuses

DCP:

Deep capillary plexuses

FV:

Flow void

FAZ:

Foveal avascular zone

RNFL:

Retinal nerve fiber layer

OCTA:

Optical coherence tomography angiography

BCVA:

Best corrected visual acuity

AL:

Axial length

LogMAR:

Logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution

SE:

Spherical equivalents

SD:

Standard deviations

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr. Shu Min Tang and Qingqing Huang at the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, for their collaboration on this study. The authors thank all participants who agree to participate in the current study.

Funding

This study was supported by grant from Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province (Grant number: 2021J01227).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, The First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University, No.20 Chazhong Road, Fuzhou, Fujian, China

    Libin Huang, Luxin Ding & Weidong Zheng

Authors
  1. Libin Huang
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  2. Luxin Ding
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  3. Weidong Zheng
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Contributions

WZ contributed to study concept and design. LH and LD contributed to data acquisition and analysis. LH and LD wrote the manuscript. WZ revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Weidong Zheng.

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Conflict of interests

The authors have no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Ethical approval

This study was approved by the ethics committee of the First Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University and adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki.

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Informed consent was signed by guardians of the participants before taking part.

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Huang, L., Ding, L. & Zheng, W. Microvascular assessment of macula, choroid, and optic disk in children with unilateral amblyopia using OCT angiography. Int Ophthalmol 42, 3923–3931 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02376-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-022-02376-5

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