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Updated: Apr 11, 2026
Evaluation of Capillary and Other Vessel Contribution to Macular Perfusion Density Measured with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: February 18, 2022
Macular perfusion in healthy Chinese: an optical coherence tomography angiogram study
Jian Yu1, Chunhui Jiang1, Xiaolei Wang1
1Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China 2Key Laboratory of Myopia of State Health Ministry, and Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration of Shanghai, Shanghai.
Purpose:
To investigate macular perfusion in healthy Chinese individuals and examine its dependence on age and sex.
Methods:
Healthy adult Chinese individuals were recruited. Macular perfusion was measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) using the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm. The parafoveal flow index and vessel area density as well as the area of the foveal capillary-free zone (CFZ) were quantified.
Results:
A total of 76 eyes in 45 subjects were included (20 males and 25 females, mean age 36 ± 11 years). The mean parafoveal flow index was 0.099 ± 0.013; the mean vessel area density was 0.891 ± 0.073; and the mean CFZ area was 0.474 ± 0.172 mm2. All three parameters were significantly correlated with age (flow index: P = 0.00; vessel area density: P = 0.00; CFZ area: P = 0.02). The flow index and vessel area density decreased annually by 0.6% and 0.4%, respectively, and CFZ area increased by 1.48% annually. The CFZ area was larger in females than in males, while all three parameters seemed to change more rapidly with age in males than in females.
Conclusions:
In healthy Chinese eyes, macular perfusion decreased with increasing age, and decreased more rapidly in males than in females. The application of OCT angiograms may provide a useful approach for monitoring macular perfusion, although caution must be exercised with regard to age- and sex-related variations.
