Quantitative Wide-Field Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography and Visual Outcomes in RAO

Yifan Lu,1,2,* Ying Cui,1,3,* Ying Zhu,1,4,* Edward S Lu,1 Rebecca Zeng,1 Itika Garg,1 Raviv Katz,1 Rongrong Le,1,5 Jay C Wang,1 Demetrios G Vavvas,1,2 Deeba Husain,1,2 Joan W Miller,1,2 David Wu,1,2 John B Miller1,2 1Harvard Retinal Imaging Lab, Massachusetts Eye and Ear, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA; 3Guangdong Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, Guangdong Provincial People’s Hospital, Guangdong Academy of Medical Sciences, Guangzhou, People’s Republic of China; 4Eye Center of Xiangya Hospital, Central South University, Changsha, Hunan, People’s Republic of China; 5Wenzhou Medical University Affiliated Eye Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, Zhejiang, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: John B Miller, Retina Service, Mass, Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles St, Boston, MA, 02114, USA, Tel +1 (617) 573-3750, Fax +1 (617) 573-3698, Email john_miller@meei.harvard.eduPurpose: Retinal artery occlusion (RAO) is an ophthalmic emergency that can lead to poor visual outcomes and is associated with an increased risk of stroke and cardiovascular events. Wide-field swept-source OCT-A (WF SS-OCTA) can provide quick and non-invasive angiographic information with a wide field of view. Here, we looked for associations between OCT-A vascular imaging metrics and vision in RAO patients.Methods: Patients with diagnoses of central (CRAO) or branched retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) were included. 6mm × 6mm Angio and 15mm × 15mm AngioPlex Montage OCT-A images were obtained for both eyes in each patient using Zeiss Plex Elite 9000 WF SS-OCTA device. Each 6mm × 6mm image was divided into nine Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) subfields. Non-perfusion area (NPA) was manually measured using 15mm × 15mm images. A linear regression model was utilized to identify correlation between imaging metrics and vision. P-values less than 0.05 were considered as statistically significant.Results: Twenty-five subjects were included. For RAO eyes, there was a statistically significant inverse correlation between retinal thickness as well as superficial capillary plexus (SCP) vessel density (VD) and vision. An inverse correlation was found between deep capillary plexus (DCP) VD and vision without statistical significance. There was a positive correlation between choroidal thickness as well as choroidal volume and vision without statistical significance. No significant correlation was found between the metrics and vision in contralateral eyes. For NPA and vision, no significant correlation was identified.Conclusion: This is the first study to investigate the utility of WF SS-OCTA in RAO and to demonstrate correlations between retinal vascular imaging metrics and visual outcomes. The results of this study provide a basis to understand the structural changes involved in vision in RAO and may guide management of RAO and prevention of cerebral stroke and cardiovascular accidents.Keywords: WF SS-OCTA, RAO, BRAO, CRAO, ETDRS, ARI network