Retinal Vessel Density and Foveal Avascular Zone Analysis in Patients with Psoriasis: An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study
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Date
2021
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Abstract
Purpose: To investigate optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) findings in patients with psoriasis.
Materials and Methods: The study included 31 treatment-naive psoriasis patients without ocular involvement and 29 age- and sex- matched
controls. Psoriasis was classified using the psoriasis area and severity index (PASI) score. Superficial and deep vascular densities (SVD, DVD),
foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, perimetry, foveal density (FD) 300μm around the FAZ, central macular thickness (CMT) and subfoveal
choroidal thickness (SFCT) were measured with the Optovue OCTA device. The groups were compared statistically.
Results: There was no difference between groups regarding age and gender (p:0,6 ve 0,2 respectively). Of the cases with psoriasis, 16% had
arthritis and 45% had nail involvement. Median (min-max) disease duration was 10 years (1-48 years) and PASI score was 10 (2,20-42). The
mean SVD and DVD were comparable between the groups (p:0,73 and 0,97 respectively). There was no significant difference in mean FAZ
area, perimetry and FD between the patients and the controls. There was no correlation between the OCTA metrics and the severity, duration,
nail and joint involvement of the disease (p>0,05 for all values). Additionally there was no significant difference between mild and severe
psoriasis cases (p>0.05).
Conclusion: OCTA is a promising technique for imaging the retinal microvascular system in psoriasis cases. However, it seems to have a
limited role in detecting early subclinical changes in cases without ocular involvement.
Key words: Foveal avascular zone, optical coherence tomography angiography, PASI score, psoriasis, vascular density.