Automated quantification of foveal avascular zone and vascular density in Behçet's disease

Purpose

: To measure the vascular density (VD) and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area in patients with Behçet's disease (BD) obtained by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods

: VD and FAZ area in the deep and superficial retinal vascular networks were measured in all eyes.

Results

: Thirty BD and 31 control subjects were included in the study. The mean overall VD measured in the entire scan was lower in BD compared with control group in both the superficial (49.52 ± 6.54 vs 53.57 ± 2.87%, respectively; p = 0.003) and deep (53.44 ± 7.44 vs 58.41 ± 3.01%, respectively; p = 0.002) areas. The FAZ in the BD group was significantly increased at the level of the superficial (0.52 ± 0.67 vs 0.28 ± 0.1 mm², respectively; p = 0.05) and deep (0.91 ± 1.25 vs 0.39 ± 0.14 mm², respectively; p = 0.024) areas compared with those of the control group. The deep and the superficial FAZ areas were positively correlated with disease duration and negatively with VA.

Conclusion

: In the patients with BD, OCTA showed decreased VD in both the superficial and deep retinal vascular networks. Besides, the VA was correlated with the VD and FAZ.