Vortex Vein Imaging: What Can It Tell Us?

Aditya Verma,1,2 Tommaso Bacci,3,4 David Sarraf,5 K Bailey Freund,3,4 SriniVas R Sadda1,2 1Doheny Eye Institute, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 2Department of Ophthalmology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, CA, USA; 3Vitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York, New York, NY, USA; 4Department of Ophthalmology, New York University Grossman School of Medicine, New York, NY, USA; 5Stein Eye Institute, David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USACorrespondence: SriniVas R Sadda Email SSadda@doheny.orgAbstract: This review article summarizes the patho-anatomy of the vortex veins, the major drainage channels for the choroid, and describes the various pathways of diseases associated with vortex vein abnormalities. This report also details the technical advancements to image the vortex veins, such as ultra-widefield indocyanine green angiography, which are critical to elucidate the importance of the vortices in various retino-choroidal disorders. Future applications of these advanced imaging systems to better understand the role of the vortex veins in health and disease are also discussed.Keywords: choroid, optical coherence tomography angiography, pachychoroid disease, ultra-widefield imaging, vortex veins