ObjectiveTo observe the differences of macular microvascular structure between recurrent and non-recurrent macular edema (ME) secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) after intravitreal injection of ranibizumab (IVR), and to preliminarily analyze the correlation between recurrence and ME. MethodsA prospective clinical observational study. Forty-five patients (45 eyes) diagnosed as CRVO with ME were included in this study in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital from January 2020 to December 2021. There were 22 males (22 eyes) and 23 females (23 eyes). All cases were unilateral. The average age was 61.11±10.88 years old. All patients received IVR treatment once a month for 3 consecutive months. ME were regressive after the initial three treatments. The patients were divided into recurrent group (21 cases, 21 eyes) and non-recurrent group (24 cases, 24 eyes) based on ME recurrence at 6 months after ME resolution. All patients underwent best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). OCTA was used to scan the macula in the area of 3 mm×3 mm, and the vessel density (VD) of superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), fovea and parafovea before and after treatment was measured. Foveal retinal thickness, foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, perimeter of FAZ (PERIM), avascular index of FAZ (AI), VD within 300 μm width of FAZ range (FD-300). Foveal VD included superficial and deep retinal VD (SFVD, DFVD); parafoveal VD included superficial and deep retinal VD (SPFVD, DPFVD). Taking the initial three treatments as the observation time point, the changes of the parameters of the two groups were compared. Comparison between the recurrent and non-recurrent group was performed by two independent sample t-tests. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis was used to measure the area under the curve (AUC) of VD for predicting the recurrence of ME. ResultsThere were no significant differences in age (t=1.350), IOP (t=1.929), SFVD (t=－1.716), DFVD (t=－1.143), CRT (t=－1.207) and AI (t=1.387) between the recurrent and non-recurrent group (P＞0.05). There were significant differences in times of anti-VEGF therapy (t=5.912), BCVA (t=5.003), SVD (t=－4.617), SPFVD (t=－4.110), DVD (t=－5.503), DPFVD (t=－4.772), FAZ area (t=2.172), PERIM (t=2.606) and FD-300 (t=－3.501) between the recurrent and non-recurrent group (P＜0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the AUC of DVD in predicting the recurrence of ME was highest, with 0.921, and the threshold was 37.65%. The sensitivity and specificity were 91.7% and 85.7%, respectively. ConclusionsThe SVD, SPFVD, DVD, DPFVD and FD-300 in the recurrence group are significantly lower than those in the non-recurrence group, while the FAZ area and PERIM are significantly higher than those in the non-recurrence group. DVD≤37.65% can be used as the best threshold for predicting the recurrence of ME.
Objective To observe the difference of macular microvascular features in superficial and deep vascular plexi in patients with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Methods A total of 63 BRVO patients (63 eyes) were enrolled in this study. There were 28 males (28 eyes) and 35 females (35 eyes). The patients aged from 39 to 74 years, with the mean age of (59.76±8.48) years. All eyes were evaluated by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). The macular angiography scan protocol covered a 3 mm×3 mm area. The focus of angiography analysis included superficial vascular plexus and deep vascular plexus. The following vascular morphological parameters were assessed in these two plexi: foveal avascular zone (FAZ) enlargement, capillary non-perfusion (CNP) occurrence, microvascular abnormalities (MA) appearance, and vascular congestion (VC) signs. The FAZ area was measured by the built-in software. The macular microvascular morphology changes in superficial and deep vascular plexi were compared through McNemar test. Results The superficial and deep plexi showed FAZ enlargement in 43 eyes (68.3%) and 50 eyes (79.4%), CNP in 51 eyes (81%) and 50 eyes (79.4%), MA in 62 eyes (98.4%) and 62 eyes (98.4%), VC in 23 eyes (36.5%) and 52 eyes (82.5%), respectively. FAZ area was (0.55±0.37) mm2. There was no difference in CNP (P=1.000) and MA (P=1.000) between superficial and deep plexi. But, there was difference in FAZ enlargement (P=0.039) and VC signs (P＜0.001) between superficial and deep plexi. Conclusion Deep vascular plexus showed more FAZ enlargement and VC sign than superficial plexus in BRVO patients.
Objective To observe the effect of different macular edema on the area of foveal avascular zone (FAZ) and its correlation in eyes with branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO). Methods A total of 72 patients (75 eyes) diagnosed with BRVO were included in the study. There were 40 patients males (42 eyes) and 32 females (33 eyes), with the mean age of (56.00±9.96) years. All the eyes were examined by BCVA, intraocular pressure, slit lamp microscope combined with preset lens, fundus color photography and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). BRVO patients were divided into two groups according to the degree of macular edema: group M300 that was CRT ≥300 μm (38 patients, 39 eyes) and group L300 that was CRT＜300 μm (34 patients, 36 eyes). The macular angiography scan protocol covered a 3 mm×3 mm area. The parameters of macular were measured by the built-in measurement software of the system: (1) area of FAZ, perimeter of FAZ (PERIM), avascular index of FAZ (AI), vascular density within a width of 300 μm around the FAZ region (FD-300); (2) central retinal thickness (CRT); (3) vascular density (VD): the superficial central fovea vascular density (SFVD), the deep central fovea vascular density (DFVD), the superficial hemi-macular vascular density (SHVD), the deep hemi-macular vascular density (DHVD). Spearman test was used to test the correlation between FAZ area and other parameters in each group. Results The FAZ area in group M300 and L300 were 0.388±0.166 mm2 and 0.596±0.512 mm2, respectively. The results of Spearman test showed that the FAZ area of group M300 was positively correlated with PERIM and AI (r=0.932, 0.591; P=0.000, 0.000), negatively correlated with SFVD, DFVD and SHVD (r=−0.490, −0.429, −0.339; P=0.002, 0.006, 0.035). But there was no significant negative correlation between FAZ area and FD-300, CRT, DHVD in group M300 (r=−0.129, −0.053, −0.400; P=0.435, 0.749, 0.395). The FAZ area in group L300 was positively correlated with PERIM and AI (r=0.887, 0.633; P=0.000, 0.000), negatively correlated with SFVD, DFVD, SHVD and DHVD (r=−0.413, −0.643, −0.630, −0.370, −0.411; P=0.012, 0.000, 0.000, 0.026, 0.013). But there was no significant positive correlation between FAZ area and FD-300 in group L300 (r=0.093, P=0.590). Conclusion FAZ area varies with the degree of macular edema. The degree of macular edema is higher, the FAZ area is smaller. FAZ area is positively correlated with PERIM and AI significantly, and negatively correlated with SFVD, DFVD and SHVD.
ObjectiveTo observe the relationship between the response to anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) drug treatment and single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotype in patients with wet age-related macular degeneration (wAMD). MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From August 2019 to September 2020, 103 eyes of 103 wAMD patients diagnosed in Tianjin Medical University Eye Hospital were included in the study. Among them, there were 59 males (57.28%, 59/103) and 44 females (42.72%, 44/103); the average age was 68.74±7.74 years. The standard logarithmic visual acuity chart was used to detect the Best Corrected Visual Acuity of the affected eye and converted to the logarithmic minimum angle of resolution (logMAR) visual acuity during statistics. Optical coherence tomography was used to detect the central retinal thickness (CRT) of the affected eye. At the same time, the patient's high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) was tested. All eyes were treated with intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF drugs once a month for 3 months. Before the initial treatment, peripheral venous blood from the patient were collected. Interleukin-8 (IL-8), complement C3 gene (C3), complement factor H (CFH), liver lipase (LIPC), cholesterol ester transfer protein (CETP), ATP binding cassette subfamily a member 1 (ABCA1), lipoprotein lipase (LPL), fatty acid desaturation gene cluster (FADS1) SNP. According to gene frequency, genotypes are divided into wild type and mutant type were detected. Qualitative data such as the frequency difference of the genotype distribution in the clinical phenotype and the Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium of the genotype distribution were compared with the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. ResultsThere were fewer CRT responders in IL-8 rs4073 mutant (TA+AA) patients than wild-type (TT) [odds ratio (OR)=0.310, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.106-0.910, P＜0.05). Among them, after the drug stratification test, the proportion of patients with IL-8 rs4073 locus TT genotype in the conbercept treatment group was less CRT non-responders (OR=0.179, 95% CI=0.034-0.960, P=0.033). Patients with LIPC rs2043085 mutant (CT+TT) with BCVA increased ≥0.2 logMAR are more likely than wild-type (CC) (OR=3.031, 95% CI 1.036-8.867, P＜0.05); HDL-C level was significantly lower Compared with wild type (CC), the difference was statistically significant (t=2.448, P=0.016). There was no significant difference in logMAR BCVA and CRT between IL-8 rs4073, LIPC rs2043085 mutant and wild-type patients before treatment (IL-8 rs4073: Z=－0.198, －1.651; P=0.843, 0.099; LIPC rs2043085: Z=－0.532, －0.152; P=0.595, 0.879). C3 rs 225066, CFH rs800292, CETP rs708272, ABCA1 rs1883025, FADS1 rs174547, LPL rs12678919 have no correlation with anti-VEGF drug treatment response. Conclusions Patients with wAMD are treated with anti-VEGF drugs. Those with IL-8 rs4073 locus A genotype may be less responsive to CRT. LIPC rs2043085 locus T genotypes may be relatively more responsive to BCVA.