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Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
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Estimating Retinal Blood Flow Velocities by Optical Coherence Tomography
Gerald Seidel1, Gerold Aschinger2, Christoph Singer1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Graz, Graz, Austria.
JAMA Ophthalmology
|August 5, 2016
Summary
Structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) can estimate retinal blood flow velocity by analyzing vessel contrast patterns. This method shows promise for evaluating retinal perfusion without fluorescein angiography.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Medical Imaging
- Retinal Vascular Diseases
Background:
- Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography is used for retinal capillary blood flow evaluation.
- Structural OCT's potential for assessing retinal capillary flow, independent of fluorescein angiography, remains underexplored.
- Laboratory studies suggest a link between vessel reflectance patterns and perfusion velocity.
Purpose of the Study:
- To assess the feasibility of estimating retinal blood flow velocity using structural OCT.
- To explore the diagnostic potential of intraluminal contrast patterns in retinal arteries.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional observational study included 30 patients with 60 retinal arteries.
- Three graders and a software-based analysis categorized blood flow velocities (low, medium, high) based on OCT intraluminal contrast patterns.
- Results were compared with retinal blood flow velocities measured by video fluorescein angiography.
Main Results:
- Graders demonstrated high sensitivity (88.2%-100%) and specificity (97.6%-100%) in discriminating low flow velocities.
- Inter-grader agreement with fluorescein angiography showed substantial to almost perfect agreement (κ coefficients 0.64-0.87).
- Software analysis revealed distinct numerical intervals for low versus medium/high flow velocities.
Conclusions:
- Structural OCT reveals a visually distinct contrast reduction in retinal vessels associated with low blood flow velocity.
- This finding suggests structural OCT may offer a non-invasive method for assessing retinal perfusion.
- Further research in larger cohorts is needed to confirm clinical utility.
