Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Analysis of Foveal Microvasculature

Purpose: : To report the normal characteristics and correlations of the foveal microvascular networks using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in a healthy Iranian population Methods: In this prospective observational case-series, enface 3x3 OCTA images were obtained using AngioVue software. Foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, central foveal point thickness and inner retinal thickness at the foveal center and the vascular density of the superficial retinal capillary plexus (SCP) and deep retinal capillary plexus (DCP) in the fovea were recorded.Results: Seventy-five normal eyes of 75 subjects were studied. Mean FAZ area was 0.33±0.10 (range 0.13 - 0.67) mm2 in SCP and 0.50 ± 0.13 (range 0.19-0.94) mm2 in DCP. Mean SCP vessel density was 29.1±5.4 % (range 4.7-40.2) in the fovea. Mean DCP vessel density was 27.1±5.7% (range 15.0-45.2) in the fovea. Mean central subfield and parafoveal retinal thickness was 247.1±20.8 (range 192-300) μm and 317.9±15.0 (range 279-357) μm, respectively. Mean CFPT was 204.8±13.8 (range 185.5-245.5) μm. The FAZ area at SCP level was associated with central subfield thickness (beta= -.67, P<0.001, R2=0.51). The FAZ area at DCP level was associated with age and central subfield thickness (beta=0.63, P<0.001 and beta=-0.50, P<0.001, respectively, R2=0.53).Conclusion: OCTA is a reliable, non-invasive tool for analyzing foveal microvasculature at superficial and deep plexuses. FAZ size is inversely associated with foveal thickness