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Updated: Sep 25, 2025
Retinal Vascular Reactivity as Assessed by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: March 26, 2020
Early Retinal Microcirculation in Nonfunctioning Pituitary Adenomas Without Visual Field Defects Using Optical
Yuyu Chou1, Xuqian Wang, Ye Wang
1Department of Ophthalmology (YC, XW, LG, JM, YZ), Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; Key Laboratory of Ocular Fundus Diseases (YC, XW, LG, JM, YZ) and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China; Department of Epidemiology and Statistics (YW), Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, School of Basic Medicine, and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; Department of Neurosurgery (BX) and Radiology (HY), Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China; China Pituitary Disease Registry Center (YC, XW, BX, HY, JM, YZ), Beijing, China; and China Pituitary Adenoma Specialist Council (XW, BX, HY, JM, YZ), Beijing, China.
Early detection of nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) is possible by assessing retinal microcirculation. Radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) vessel density in the inferior temporal sector shows promise for diagnosing NFPA before visual field defects occur.
Area of Science:
- Ophthalmology
- Neuro-oncology
- Medical Imaging
Background:
- Nonfunctioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) can cause visual system damage before symptoms are apparent.
- Early detection methods are crucial for preventing irreversible visual impairment in NFPA patients.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate retinal vessel densities (VDs) in patients with NFPA but without visual field defects (VFDs) using optical coherence tomography angiography.
- To assess the diagnostic capabilities of retinal microcirculation changes for early NFPA detection.
Main Methods:
- Compared retinal microcirculation and structural thickness between 27 NFPA patients (without VFDs) and 27 healthy controls.
- Utilized optical coherence tomography angiography and performed receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis.
- Conducted multivariate regression to analyze the impact of symptom duration, tumor size, and axial length.
Main Results:
- Patients with NFPA without VFDs showed significantly lower vessel density in the radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) of the inferior temporal (IT) sector compared to controls.
- Focal loss volume (FLV) of the macular ganglion cell complex (mGCC) and RPC VD in the IT sector had the largest areas under the ROC curves.
- Both FLV and RPC VD were significantly related to symptom duration and tumor size.
Conclusions:
- Fundus microcirculation impairments, specifically in the RPC of the IT sector, may be an initial sign of NFPA before VFD or retinal thinning.
- FLV of the mGCC and RPC VD in the IT sector show potential for early clinical diagnosis of NFPA in the absence of VFDs.
