RETINAL MICROCIRCULATION INVESTIGATION IN TYPE I AND II DIABETIC PATIENTS WITHOUT RETINOPATHY USING AN ADAPTIVE...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Diabetology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Early detection of diabetic retinopathy is crucial for preventing vision loss.
• Current imaging techniques may not identify subtle retinal vascular changes in early diabetes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate retinal microcirculation changes in type I and type II diabetes without retinopathy.
• To evaluate the utility of adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy (AOO) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in detecting these changes.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional study of 55 subjects (16 type I diabetes, 19 type II diabetes, 20 controls).
• Assessed temporal superior retinal arterioles using AOO.
• Measured parafoveal superficial capillary plexus vessel density with OCTA.

Main Results:

• Diabetic patients exhibited a higher wall-to-lumen ratio in retinal arterioles compared to controls (p=0.01).
• No significant difference in wall-to-lumen ratio was observed between type I and type II diabetic groups (p=0.69).
• Type I diabetic patients showed reduced vessel density in the superficial capillary plexus compared to controls (p=0.001).

Conclusions:

• AOO and OCTA can detect early retinal vascular changes in diabetes, even before clinical manifestations.
• These imaging modalities offer valuable insights into the pathophysiology and prognosis of diabetic eye disease.