Retinal Vascular Density Change in Patients With Aortic Valve Regurgitation

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Cardiology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Aortic valve regurgitation (AR) is a cardiovascular condition affecting blood flow.
• Microvascular changes in the retina may be associated with systemic diseases like AR.
• Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive imaging technique for retinal vasculature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate retinal vessel density in the superficial capillary plexus layer, deep capillary plexus layer, and choriocapillaris plexus layer.
• To compare retinal vessel density between patients with AR and healthy controls.
• To investigate the potential of OCTA in assessing microperfusion in AR.

Main Methods:

• Study included 38 healthy participants and 38 patients with AR.
• AR diagnosis and severity assessed using transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) and AHA/ACC guidelines.
• Retinal vessel density (SCPD, DCPD, CCPD) analyzed using OCTA.

Main Results:

• Decreased superficial capillary plexus density (SCPD) observed in nasal, inferior, and central regions in AR patients.
• Reduced deep capillary plexus density (DCPD) noted in nasal and inferior regions of AR patients.
• Lower choriocapillaris plexus density (CCPD) found in inferior and central regions, with significant reduction in the inferior region compared to controls. Central macular thickness was also decreased.

Conclusions:

• Patients with AR demonstrate significantly decreased retinal flow density compared to healthy individuals.
• OCTA can effectively measure microperfusion changes in the retina of AR patients.
• Retinal microvascular alterations may serve as an indicator of systemic changes in AR.