Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 30, 2025
Retinal Vascular Reactivity as Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: March 26, 2020
Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Healthy Adult Subjects: Normative Values, Frequency, and Impact of
Nakhleh E Abu-Yaghi1, Abdelrahman F Obiedat2, Tamara I AlNawaiseh2
1Department of Special Surgery, Ophthalmology Division, School of Medicine, The University of Jordan, Amman, Jordan.
Aim:
This cross-sectional study is aimed at identifying normative ocular coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) values in a cohort of healthy adult Jordanian individuals and assessing the prevalence of different image artifacts and their impact on quantitative OCTA measurements.
Materials And Methods:
One hundred and eighty-one eyes from 100 healthy participants were included in this study. All participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination including best corrected visual acuity, slit lamp examination, and dilated fundoscopy. Swept-source OCTA images were obtained and analyzed for all 181 eyes. We recorded vascularity measurements and analyzed the prevalence and effect of ten different artifacts on superficial and deep retinal and choriocapillaris layer images.
Results:
Sixty-two percent of the participants were men (n = 62), and 38% (n = 38) were women. The age of participants ranged between 24 and 75 years (mean 50.5 ± 10.92). The mean central macular thickness was 237.71 (±22.905) μm, and the mean choroidal thickness was 257.73 (±77.027) μm. Artifacts were present in 46.4% of the acquired scans. Images with artifacts had higher mean age (p = 0.03), lower image quality (p < 0.001), higher central vascular density (p < 0.001), and lower inferior vascular density (p < 0.001) compared to artifact-free tomographs. Motion artifact was the most common type, which was present in 29 (16%) of images, followed by blink artifact 18 (9.9%), and Z offset 8 (4.4%).
Conclusion:
OCTA artifact detection and correction remains a challenging aspect of the diagnostic and follow-up process of patients with retinal pathologies. To our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the association between OCTA outputs and artifacts in healthy eyes. We report that in this cohort of normal individuals, images with artifacts had a significantly higher central vascular density (22.62 vs. 16.60) and a lower inferior vascular density (46.09 vs. 48.81). We also found that a significant increase in central vascular density is only present in images with Z offset artifact type (49.03). Motion artifact was the most common artifact seen in our series. However, we observed no alteration in quantitative parameters in images with motion artifacts.
Related Concept Videos
01:10Computed Tomography
The technique was invented in the 1970s and is based on the principle that as X-rays pass through the body, they are absorbed or reflected at different levels. In the technique, a patient lies on a motorized platform while a computerized axial tomography (CAT) scanner rotates...
01:27Imaging Studies III: Computed Tomography
01:28Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System V: CT
01:21Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System IV: CMRI
01:19Imaging Studies VII: Vascular Imaging
01:20Imaging Studies for Cardiovascular System III: X-Ray
Definition and Purpose
An X-ray, or radiograph, is a non-invasive method that uses ionizing radiation to take images of internal structures. It is mainly used in cardiac imaging to examine the heart, lungs, and major blood vessels, aiming to identify abnormalities in the heart's size, shape, and position, such as heart failure, congenital defects, and vascular...