Alteration in choroidal microvasculature determined by optical coherence tomography angiography in patients with...

We aimed to investigate the retinal layers and macular capillary structure using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) with acromegaly patients and determine the relationship between OCTA parameters and disease duration, Growth hormone (GH) and Insuline growth factor (IGF - 1) levels.

Twenty-two patients with acromegaly who were followed up in the endocrinology outpatient clinic of Sisli Hamidiye Etfal Health Training and Research Hospital, were recruited into the study. Healthy control group was consisted of 22 age and gender matched subjects. Complete opthalmological examination including best visual acuity (BCVA), axial lenght, intraocular pressure (IOP) measurement, anterior segment and fundus examination, central corneal thickness with pachymetry and OCTA measurement were performed in the patients and healthy control group. Foveal avascular zone (FAZ), foveal vascular density (FVD), parafoveal vascular density (PFVD), choroidal flow (CF), foveal thickness (FT) and choroidal thickness (CT) were compared beetwen groups. Correlation between disease duration, GH and IGF-1 levels and OCTA parameters were evaluated.

There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of BCVA, axial length, IOP, FT, FAZ, FD and PFVD. Choroidal thickness and CF was significantly high in the patients group compared to healthy controls (respectively, p = 0.003, p = 0.022). The mean follow-up period in patients with acromegaly was 90±50.2 months. There was a significant correlation between GH and subfoveal choroidal thickness in the patient group (p < 0.001, r = 0.52), a significant correlation was determined between disease duration and corneal thickness (p = 0.01, r = 0.41). In addition, an inverse correlation was detected between the IGF-1 level and the FAZ domain (p = 0.022, r= -0.34).

In patients with acromegaly, choroidal vasculature seems to be more affected than the retinal vasculature.