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Updated: May 9, 2026
Evaluation of Capillary and Other Vessel Contribution to Macular Perfusion Density Measured with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Published on: February 18, 2022
Optical coherence tomography angiography as non-invasive tool for detection of characteristics patterns in
T Kurdiani1, M Lever1, K Al-Ghazzawi1
1Department of Ophthalmology, University Duisburg-Essen, University Hospital Essen, Hufelandstraße 55, 45147, Essen, Germany.
Introduction:
Circumscribed choroidal hemangioma (CH) is a benign vascular intraocular tumor, most commonly diagnosed in adulthood. Clinical symptoms include visual disturbances caused by subretinal fluid and degenerative retinal changes involving the macula. Diagnosis is based on clinical examination; however, multimodal imaging techniques such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein angiography (FA), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), and ultrasound (US) are essential in differentiating from other intraocular tumor entities. While FA and ICGA are dye-related invasive methods with possible side effects, OCT Angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive diagnostic method for visualizing retinal and choroidal vasculature. We aimed to explore OCTA as a noninvasive diagnostic modality for CH focusing on characteristical patterns.
Methods:
We conducted a retrospective analysis of 26 patients with untreated CH who underwent OCTA, as well as conventional FA and ICGA. OCTA images were evaluated for specific irregular vascular patterns within the choroidal vasculature, such as 'bag of worms', spaghetti-like/giant vessels, club-like appearance vessels with terminal bulbs, and avascular zones.
Results:
Of the 26 Patients analysed, 85% (22 eyes) exhibited irregular vascular patterns in the choroidal vasculature, as described above, and were labelled OCTA pattern present. Four eyes showed no such patterns and were labelled as OCTA pattern non-present. Compared to the second group, the OCTA pattern present group had significantly smaller tumor thickness (1.87 vs. 3.53 mm; p = 0.0001).
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that OCTA can effectively detect characteristic changes in CH, particularly in lesions with tumor prominence below 3 mm. OCTA has the potential to become a valuable non-invasive tool for CH diagnosis; however, larger studies are needed to further validate its clinical utility.
