Parafoveal Retinal Vessel Density Assessment by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Healthy Eyes

To assess variability in vessel density (VD) measurements across three optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) devices to identify a methodology that offers the least amount of variation in VD, and to assess the effect of averaging of multiple scans on VD variability.

Fifteen eyes of eight healthy individuals were imaged consecutively on three OCTA devices. Segmentations at the superficial, deep, and full retinal layers were generated. Repeat scans for each retinal layer were registered and averaged to generate one OCTA image. Two different automated thresholding techniques were used to calculate vessel area density (VAD) from binarized images and vessel skeleton density (VSD) from skeletonized images. Vessel length, a linear measure of the combined lengths of vessels, was calculated. Foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area was measured.

All three OCTA devices were significantly different (P < .0001). This finding remained after averaging images (P < .0001). VSD was more repeatable within a device but less reproducible across devices. Conversely, VAD demonstrated less repeatability but greater reproducibility. Differences in VSD between devices were systematic and attributable to differences in resolution. Vessel length, unaffected by resolution, demonstrated no significant differences between the devices (P > .107). There was no significant difference in FAZ area across devices (P = .51). After averaging images, VD was significantly different from the single images for each device and plexus (P < .05) but remained within 1% of the value of a single scan.

OCTA devices show variability in VD for healthy individuals. With greater repeatability, VSD appeared useful for following a patient on one device. VAD and vessel length seemed ideal for comparing vessel parameters between OCTA devices. After averaging multiple scans, VSD remained within 1% of a single scan, for which clinical significance remains to be determined. Caution is advised when comparing quantitative analyses across OCTA devices. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2018;49:S5-S17.].