Journal of Medicine in Scientific Research (Jan 2022)

Optical coherence tomography angiography in comparison with fluorescein angiography in diabetic retinopathy

  • Hussam E O. Elrashidy,
  • Ghada Samir

DOI
https://doi.org/10.4103/jmisr.jmisr_66_21
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5, no. 2
pp. 187 – 193

Abstract

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Background Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is a microvascular complication of diabetes, and it is a leading cause of blindness. Fluorescein angiography (FA) is a vitally crucial diagnostic tool for evaluating fundus features of diabetic retinopathy. Purpose The purpose of the study was to evaluate optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in eyes with diabetic maculopathy (DM) compared with the findings in fundus fluorescein angiography. Design It is a cross-sectional study. Patients and methods The study involved 40 eyes of 40 patients suffering from DM. The patients' ages ranged from 30 to 66 years with a mean value of 51.4 ± 8.55 years, of which –28 (70%) were females and 12 (30%) were males. We compared OCTA with FA in terms of the ability to visualize the DM changes detected, such as microaneurysms, capillary nonperfusion, foveal avascular zone interruption, perifoveal changes, hemorrhages, and edema in both superficial and deep capillary plexuses. Results Microaneurysms were detected in all eyes in OCTA and FA. Retinal hemorrhages were detected using OCTA in deep capillary plexuses ( 42.5% (17/40) of eyes compared with 7.5% (3) in superficial capillary plexuses with a significant difference that may better evaluate the level of retinal hemorrhage among diabetic eyes. Areas of capillary loss obscured by fluorescein leakage on fluorescein angiography were more clearly defined on OCTA. Capillary nonperfusion showed no statistically significant difference between FA and OCTA. FA could detect intraretinal microvascular abnormalities/collaterals in eight (20%) eyes, while OCTA could detect four (10%) with P value = 0.210, which is insignificant. Conclusion Both FA and OCTA could detect microaneurysms in all eyes. OCTA could precisely locate their depth and origin, which is not possible in FA. OCTA showed higher accuracy in assessing capillary nonperfusion areas than FA, but with a statistically insignificant difference.

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