Retina. 2021 Sep 23. doi: 10.1097/IAE.0000000000003309. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
PURPOSE: To determine the relationship between macular microvascular abnormalities on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) and silent cerebral infarctions (SCI) on cerebral magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in sickle cell disease (SCD).
METHODS: Patients (age < 18 years old) from our previous pediatric SCD study cohort who had prior OCT-A and brain MRI were identified. Brain MRI images were compared to macular OCT-A scans to identify macular vascular density differences between patients with SCI and without SCI.
RESULTS: 68 eyes from 34 patients who underwent OCT-A were evaluated, of whom 28 eyes from 14 patients met inclusion criteria for this study. Eight (57%) patients with SCI and 6 (43%) patients without SCI were identified. The mean age (17 years in SCI, 16.3 years in non-SCI) was comparable between groups. There was no statistically significant difference in systemic complications. Deep capillary plexus (DCP) vessel density was lower in the temporal quadrant in patients with SCI (49.3% vs 53.7%, P = 0.014).
CONCLUSION: Patients with SCI were found to have lower vessel density in the DCP compared to those without SCI. This finding suggests that DCP vessel density may have utility as an imaging biomarker to predict the presence of SCI.
PMID:34608107 | DOI:10.1097/IAE.0000000000003309
