Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 17, 2025
Evaluation of Capillary and Other Vessel Contribution to Macular Perfusion Density Measured with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: February 18, 2022
Capillary Density Measured by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Glaucomatous Optic Disc Phenotypes
Eren Ekici1, Sasan Moghimi2, Christopher Bowd2
1Hamilton Glaucoma Center, Shiley Eye Institute, Viterbi Family Department of Ophthalmology, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, California, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara Ulucanlar Eye Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
Purpose:
To compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA)-measured capillary density of the optic disc among 4 glaucomatous optic disc phenotypes.
Design:
Cross-sectional study.
Methods:
Circumpapillary capillary density (cpCD) of 4 glaucomatous optic disc phenotypes in 193 eyes of 141 glaucoma patients and cpCD in 92 eyes of 55 healthy subjects from the Diagnostic Innovations in Glaucoma Study (DIGS) were compared. Areas under the receiver operating characteristic (AUROC) curves were used to evaluate diagnostic accuracy among groups after adjusting for confounders.
Results:
Four glaucoma phenotypes were assessed: focal ischemic (n = 45), generalized cup enlargement (n = 60), myopic glaucoma (n = 38), and senile sclerotic (n = 50). Sex, mean ocular perfusion pressure, intraocular pressure, mean deviation, and the quality score did not differ among phenotypes. However, there were differences in age (P = .050), race (P = .039), axial length (P = .033), and retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (P < .001) among the groups. After adjusting for confounders, senile sclerotic discs had the lowest cpCD (37.1% [95% confidence interval, 35.3-38.8]), followed by focal ischemic (41.8% [40.0-43.6]), myopic glaucoma (42.1% [40-44.2]), and generalized cup enlargement (45.5% [44-47]) (P < .001) discs. The adjusted AUROC curves of cpCD for discriminating between healthy and glaucomatous eyes were highest in senile sclerotic eyes (0.928) and lowest in generalized cup enlargement eyes (0.704).
Conclusions:
OCTA-measured vessel density differs among optic disc phenotypes. Clinicians should be aware that the performance of OCTA for glaucoma diagnosis may be influenced by the optic disc phenotype.
