Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 23, 2025
Retinal Vascular Reactivity as Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: March 26, 2020
Changes in Iris Perfusion Following Scleral Buckle Surgery for Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment: An Anterior Segment
Rossella D'Aloisio1, Pasquale Viggiano1, Enrico Borrelli1
1Ophthalmology Clinic, Department of Medicine and Science of Ageing, University G. D'Annunzio Chieti-Pescara, 66100 Chieti, Italy.
Purpose:
To investigate iris vasculature changes following scleral buckling (SB) surgery in eyes with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) with anterior-segment (AS) optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Methods:
In this prospective study, enrolled subjects were imaged with an SS-OCTA system (PLEX Elite 9000, Carl Zeiss Meditec Inc., Dublin, CA, USA). Image acquisition of the iris was obtained using an AS lens and a manual focusing adjustment in the iris using the retina imaging software. The quantitative analysis was performed in eight different iris regions: (i) superior, (ii) supero-temporal, (iii) supero-nasal, (iv) nasal, (v) temporal, (vi) inferior, (vii) infero-temporal, (viii) infero nasal which, were defined as squares with area of 1.5 mm2.
Results:
Fifteen eyes of 15 patients (six females; nine males) were included. Anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography (AS-OCTA) parameters of the iris were statistically compared at baseline (preoperatively), 1 week, 1 month and 6 months after SB. At post-operative 1 week, perfusion density (PD) showed a significant decrease from 66.8 ± 13.2% to 58.55 ± 12.0% in the iris supero-nasal region (p = 0.016). However, at the 1-month follow-up visit, iris PD was significantly lower in all the analyzed iris regions, apart from the superior one.
Conclusions:
This study is the first description of AS-OCTA in patients undergoing SB. Our results showed a uniform reduction of the iris vessel network at 1 month after surgery, supporting the clinical use of AS-OCTA to identify early iris perfusion changes as potential predictive biomarkers of vascular disorders.
