Comparative analysis of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) results between Behçet's disease patients and a healthy control group

Abstract

Purpose This study aimed to compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) findings between patients with Behcet's disease (BD) and individuals with healthy eyes. Design A cross-sectional study. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on patients (67 eyes) with BD who were referred to Feiz Hospital and healthy eyes (43 eyes). All subjects underwent Snellen visual acuity, a slit-lamp examination, measuring intraocular pressure, conducting a dilated fundus examination, OCTA imaging, and spectral-domain (SD)-OCT imaging. OCTA retinal vascular measurements including optic nerve VD, macular-associated VD( superficial and deep), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, FAZ perimeter (PERIM), and vessel density within a 300-mu m-wide region of the FAZ (FD) were compared between the groups. Results A significant difference was evident between the two groups (healthy one group and BD group) in terms of parafoveal and perifoveal total retinal thickness, total pRNFL VD in all quadrants except the inferior sector (P < 0.05), and macular superficial, and deep VD in all regions except temporal and superior perifoveal VD (P < 0.05) following adjustments for age, gender, and signal strength index. When comparing the two groups, ocular Behcet's disease (BD) and non-ocular BD, it was evident that peripapillary vessel density (VD) exhibited a significant decrease in ocular BD eyes in all sectors except for the superior and inferior ones, as compared to non-ocular BD eyes. In addition, the comparison of ocular BD and non-ocular BD showed superficial and deep VDs were lower in ocular BD than non-ocular BD in all regions. Conclusion According to these findings, peripapillary and macular vessel density is affected in BD. Key Points center dot The study utilized OCTA to compare retinal features in Beh & ccedil;et's disease (BD) patients and healthy individuals, revealing significant differences in retinal thickness and vessel density. center dot Ocular BD demonstrated reduced peripapillary vessel density compared to non-ocular BD. center dot The demonstrated association between ADMA and cIMT in patients with early SSc may suggest a role of NO/ADMA pathway in the initiation of macrovascular injury in SSc.