RETINAL MICROVASCULATURE ALTERATION IN ACTIVE THYROID-ASSOCIATED OPHTHALMOPATHY

ABSTRACT Objective: It is uncertain whether there is an increased retinal vessel density in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmology (TAO), or if ocular hemodynamic changes are associated with their vision. Many techniques have been applied to analyze ocular hemodynamic changes in TAO patients; however, they suffer from limitations. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is more sensitive to hemodynamic changes. We performed OCTA to determine whether there is an increased retinal vessel density in TAO patients, and investigate associations with their vision. Methods: Twenty TAO patients (right eye) and 20 normal controls (right eye) were recruited for the study. Three-dimensional OCTA images were generated with 6 × 6-mm angiographic OCT scans of the superficial retinal layer (SRL) and deeper retinal layer (DRL) of the macular retina for each eye. We calculated the microvascular (MIR) and macrovascular (MAR) densities and compared MIR, MAR, and total MIR (TMI) density in the healthy control ...