Localization of Microvascular Changes in Systemic Disease Without Retinopathy Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA).

ABSTRACT: Background: This study aimed to evaluate the location of retinal fractal dimension (FD) abnormalities in individuals with diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension (HTN) without retinopathy. Methods: The annular zone of 6 mm × 6 mm OCTA images centered on the fovea was partitioned into thin annuli and analyzed using fractal analysis to measure FDs. Results: The cohort (n = 114) had an average age of 55.7 years, with 87% self-identifying as male; 29% (n = 33) had HTN, 8% (n = 9) had DM, and 11% (n = 12) had both. Individuals with DM showed significantly lower FDs in the C5 partition of the deep vascular plexus (DVP), located 1.77 mm to 2.14 mm from the foveal center compared to controls without DM (1.57 ± 0.003 vs. 1.58 ± 0.006; p = 0.01

SUBMITTER: Hattenhauer A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11765723 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature