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Hyperreflective cystoid spaces in diabetic macular oedema: prevalence and clinical implications
Aude Couturier1, Valerie Mane2, Carlo Alessandro Lavia2
1Universite de paris, Ophthalmology Department, AP-HP, Hôpital Lariboisière, F-75010, Paris, France audecout@aol.com.
Aims:
To analyse the prevalence and evolution of hyper-reflective cystoid spaces with decorrelation signal detected using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in diabetic macular oedema (DMO).
Methods:
A retrospective study of consecutive eyes with DMO imaged using OCTA over a 1-year period was conducted. All eyes with hyper-reflective cystoid spaces at baseline and at least 3 months of follow-up were included in a longitudinal analysis.
Results:
The prevalence of hyperreflective cystoid spaces with decorrelation signal was of 37% (61/165) in DMO eyes. Hyperreflective foci within hyperreflective cystoid spaces were observed in 85% of eyes. The longitudinal study included 33 eyes (10 observed and 23 treated with intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor), with a median follow-up of 15 months. The hyperreflective cystoid spaces resolved in 85% of eyes. The mean best-corrected visual acuity remained stable during the follow-up, even in the eyes achieving a resolution of the hyperreflective cystoid spaces. Hard exudates appeared in the area of resolved hyperreflective cystoid spaces in 33% of eyes.
Conclusion:
Hyperreflective cystoid spaces detected by OCTA affected more than one-third of the DMO eyes. Their disappearance was not associated with any functional improvement and led to the formation of new hard exudate deposits in about one-third of the eyes.
