Quantitative Modeling of Ultra-Widefield Choroidal Indocyanine Green Angiography in Systemic Vascular Diseases

To evaluate quantitative measurements of choroidal vasculature as obtained via ultra-widefield indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) in patients with systemic vascular diseases.

Retrospective chart review and image analysis of 38 eyes from 21 patients with ICGA as part of routine retinal care. Images were binarized with lines drawn at specific antero-posterior landmarks. The vessel density and mean vessel caliber were measured along these lines and correlated with systemic vascular disease status.

Unlike those with other systemic vascular diseases, patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) were found to have increased choroidal vascular density and vessel caliber in all measurements of the peripheral choroid compared with those patients without (P < .05 for all measurements).

Patients with OSA may have increased vascular density secondary to increased choroidal vessel caliber. Further work is needed to validate the modeling and confirm the association. [.