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Updated: Jan 29, 2026
Doppler Optical Coherence Tomography of Retinal Circulation
Published on: September 18, 2012
Microvascular Retinal and Choroidal Changes in Retinal Vein Occlusion Analyzed by Two Different Optical Coherence
Eliana Costanzo1, Mariacristina Parravano1, Marta Gilardi1
1IRCCS - Fondazione Bietti, Rome, Italy.
Purpose:
To investigate retinal and choroidal microvascular changes and structural choroidal involvement in retinal vein occlusion (RVO).
Methods:
Retrospective analysis of treatment-naïve macular edema secondary to RVO, studied by optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA), before and after the loading phase of intravitreal injections of ranibizumab (IVR-LP). OCTA was performed using two different devices: AngioVue RTVue XR Avanti (spectral-domain OCTA) and Zeiss PLEX® Elite 9000 (swept-source OCTA).
Results:
30 eyes of 30 consecutive patients (17 branch and 13 central RVO) were included. Central macular thickness and subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT) were significantly reduced after IVR-LP (p < 0.001 and p = 0.046, respectively). 23 eyes were eligible for OCTA analysis. Baseline vessel density (VD) in deep capillary plexus (DCP) was significantly reduced in RVO eyes compared with fellow eyes (p = 0.03 and p = 0.002 for PLEX® Elite and AngioVue, respectively). After IVR-LP, no significant VD changes in any vascular layer was found. PLEX® Elite VD analysis showed significant differences in DCP between ischemic versus non-is-chemic eyes (p = 0.011).
Conclusion:
OCTA suggests a retinal vascular impairment of DCP but no involvement of choroid in RVO eyes. A greater baseline SCT could be due to a choroidal exudation. OCTA imaged with PLEX® Elite allowed to differentiate ischemic and non-ischemic patients at baseline.
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