Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 5, 2026
Retinal Vascular Reactivity as Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: March 26, 2020
Effect of Choroidal Vessel Density on the Ellipsoid Zone and Visual Function in Retinitis Pigmentosa Using Optical
Ruyuan Liu1, Jing Lu1, Qiuhui Liu1
1State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China.
Purpose:
We evaluate the effect of choroidal vessel density on the residual length of the ellipsoid zone (EZ) and visual function in patients with retinitis pigmentosa (RP) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Methods:
Fifty-three patients with RP (n = 101 eyes) and 53 normal participants (n = 76 eyes) were enrolled in this study. Patients with RP were assigned to three groups according to their best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). All patients underwent ophthalmologic examinations, including BCVA, fundus examination performed with a slit-lamp using an indirect 90 diopter (D) lens, OCTA, full-field electroretinogram (ERG), and visual field. The choroidal vessel density in the choriocapillaris-Sattler's layer (DC-S), Haller's layer (DH), horizontal length of the ellipsoid (HEL), and vertical length of the ellipsoid (VEL) were assessed using OCTA and Adobe Photoshop CS3 extended software.
Results:
A significantly increasing impairment of choroidal vessel density (DC-S and DH) was characterized in the RP groups compared to those of the controls (P < 0.05 for all). The magnitude of the reduction in the DC-S and DH was much easier to identify for more severely impaired BCVA in the RP groups (P < 0.05 for all). The DC-S had the strongest correlation with the HEL, VEL, BCVA, visual field, and b-wave amplitude (r = 0.735, r = 0.753, r = -0.843, r = 0.579, and r = 0.671, respectively).
Conclusions:
Using noninvasive OCTA, choroidal microcirculation, especially in the small/middle choroidal vessel layers, was a prominent factor affecting the EZ, visual acuity, visual field, and recordable ERG b-wave amplitude of patients with RP. This may provide new insights into the progress mechanism and treatment of RP.
