The Role of Widefield Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Assessing the Severity of Diabetic Retinopathy

Physicians need an accurate understanding of diabetic retinopathy (DR) severity to optimally manage patients. The aim of this prospective study is to correlate the severity of macular and peripheral retinal vascular abnormalities seen on widefield (WF) optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) with DR grading based on WF fundus photography.

The study included 150 eyes from 82 patients with treatment-naïve DR. All patients were imaged with WF fundus photography and swept-source WF OCTA. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) size and shape, and measurement of capillary nonperfusion (CNP) areas, were performed from the OCTA images. The mixed-effects model was used to compare the DR grading from WF photography with the vascular changes seen on WF-OCTA, and Bonferroni correction was applied to the gradings.

The mean [± standard deviation (SD)] age of patients was 55.5 (± 9.4) years. The WF-OCTA showed that an increasing size of the FAZ (from 0.442 (± 0.059) µm to 0.933 (± 0.086) µm) correlated with increasing severity of the DR (as determined with WF photography). The deep capillary plexus, FAZ size, and CNP areas in eyes with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) differed from those with mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR) (p < 0.001). Most eyes with severe nonproliferative DR were found to have CNP in four quadrants [superficial capillary plexus (SCP) 60%, deep capillary plexus (DCP) 50%]. The WF-OCTA detected subtle neovascularization of the disc (NVD) in 7 eyes (10%) and neovascularization elsewhere (NVE) in 13 eyes (18%) that had been diagnosed with only moderate NPDR on WF photography.

FAZ and CNP areas as measured by WF-OCTA correlate with DR severity. WF-OCTA can also detect subtle NVE and NVD that cannot be seen with fundus photography.