Sensitive optical coherence tomography angiography parameters detecting retinal vascular changes in Behcet's uveitis.

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Retinal Imaging
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• Behcet's uveitis (BU) is an inflammatory condition that can affect the eyes.
• Retinal vascular changes are a known complication of BU.
• Wide-field swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) offers detailed visualization of retinal vasculature.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare retinal parameters between Behcet's uveitis patients and healthy individuals using SS-OCTA.
• To identify sensitive SS-OCTA parameters for detecting retinal vascular alterations in BU.

Main Methods:

• Fifty-two eyes of quiescent BU patients and 50 healthy eyes underwent 12x12 mm SS-OCTA.
• Vessel density (VD) and flow area (FA) were analyzed in multiple retinal layers (NFL, SVP, ICP, DCP) and regions.
• Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to evaluate parameter sensitivity.

Main Results:

• BU patients exhibited significantly lower VD and FA in the NFL, SVP, ICP, and DCP compared to controls.
• Parafoveal and peripheral FA of the deep capillary plexus (DCP) demonstrated high sensitivity (AUC=0.90-0.91) in detecting retinal changes.
• FA in the parafoveal and peripheral DCP negatively correlated with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).

Conclusions:

• Deep retinal layers are frequently affected in Behcet's uveitis.
• Parafoveal and peripheral FA measurements of the DCP are sensitive biomarkers for retinal vascular alterations in BU.
• SS-OCTA is a valuable tool for assessing retinal vasculature in BU patients.