Parafoveal OCT Angiography Features in Diabetic Patients without Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy: A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

Purpose. To evaluate the capacity of OCT angiography (OCTA) for detecting infraclinical lesions in parafoveal capillaries in diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy (DR). Methods. This prospective observational cross-sectional case-control study analyzed the superficial and deep capillary plexuses (SCP and DCP) on macular OCTA scans (3 × 3 mm) centered on the fovea. We compared 22 diabetic patients (34 eyes included) without DR diagnosis on color fundus photographs, with 22 age- and gender-matched nondiabetic controls (40 eyes included). Qualitative analysis concerned morphological ischemic capillary alterations. Quantitative analysis measured foveal avascular zone (FAZ) size, parafoveal capillary density, and enlargement coefficient of FAZ between SCP and DCP. Results. Neither the qualitative nor quantitative parameters were significantly different between both groups. No microaneurysms or venous tortuosity was observed in any of the analyzed images. On the SCP, the mean FAZ area was 0.322 ± 0.125 mm2 in diabetic patients and 0.285 ± 0.150 mm2 in controls, P=0.31. On the DCP, the mean FAZ area was 0.444 ± 0.153 mm2 in cases and 0.398 ± 0.138 mm2 in controls, P=0.20. Conclusion. OCTA did not detect infraclinical qualitative or quantitative differences in parafoveal capillaries of diabetic patients without DR in comparison with nondiabetic controls.