Retinal and choroidal microvasculature is altered after strabismus surgery

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• Strabismus surgery is common, but its impact on ocular microvasculature is not fully understood.
• Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) offers high-resolution imaging of retinal and choroidal vasculature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate changes in retinal and choroidal microvasculature following strabismus surgery using swept-source OCTA.
• To assess the impact of horizontal rectus surgery on superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and choriocapillaris (CC) vessel density.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 33 patients undergoing horizontal rectus surgery for strabismus.
• Comparison of operated eyes with unoperated fellow eyes as controls.
• Macular microvasculature assessed via OCTA (3x3 scan) preoperatively, and at 1 week and 1 month postoperatively.

Main Results:

• Significant differences in SCP vessel density between operated and fellow eyes at 1 week post-surgery.
• Increased SCP vessel density in operated eyes at 1 week post-surgery.
• Significant differences in DCP vessel density between operated and fellow eyes at 1 week post-surgery.
• Increased CC vessel density in operated eyes at 1 week post-surgery.

Conclusions:

• Strabismus surgery can induce transient alterations in retinal and choroidal microcirculation.
• These microcirculatory changes are most evident in the early postoperative period (1 week).