Abstract

The aim of our study was to compare the parameters of optical coherence tomography angiography between eyes with clinically significant macular edema (CSME) and without (w/o) CSME in patients diagnosed with diabetic macular edema (DME). Sixty-eight eyes of 34 patients with DME were included in the cross-sectionally designed study. The eyes of the patients with DME were divided into 2 groups, including the eyes with CSME and the eyes w/o CSME. Optical coherence tomography (OCTA) parameters, including central macular thickness, superficial and deep capillary plexus, and choriocapillaris flow area were evaluated between these two groups. Eyes with CSME had a thicker central retinal thickness (CRT), (P≤0.001) and worse visual acuity (VA), (P=0.002), and there was a strong negative correlation between CRT and VA among patients with CSME (r=-0.616, P≤0.001). We observed increases in the vessel density (VD) measurements of the superficial fovea (P=0.006) and deep fovea areas (P=0.036), whereas reductions in the VD measurements of other deeper plexuses in the comparison of eyes with CSME and w/o CSME in patients with diagnosis of DME. We did not note significant differences between FAZ metrics. OCTA could be used as a noninvasive modality to assess and compare the structural and vasculature changes in diabetic patients with or/and w/o CSME.

Key words: Clinically significant macular edema, optical coherence tomography angiography, vessel density, diabetic macular edema