Comparison of Retinal and Choroidal Microvasculature Changes in Monocular Amblyopic and Non-amblyopic Eyes following Short-term Patch Occlusion Treatment

Abstract

Purpose

Our objective was to investigate whether there were differences in the short-term changes of retinal and choroidal microvasculature between amblyopic and non-amblyopic eyes after patch occlusion treatment in patients with monocular amblyopia. Additionally, we aimed to determine if these changes were associated with improvements in clinical parameters.

Methods

We conducted a retrospective, longitudinal paired-eye case-control study by analyzing the medical records of patients under the age of 12 who had monocular amblyopia and underwent patch occlusion treatment for a duration of 2 to 12 months. Using optical coherence tomography angiography images, we compared the foveal avascular zone width, retinal blood vessel density (VD), choroidal thickness (CT), and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in amblyopic and non-amblyopic eyes before and after patch occlusion treatment. We analyzed the correlations between the aforementioned parameters and changes in best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and stereopsis.

Results

Overall, 114 eyes from 57 patients were enrolled. At baseline, parafoveal superficial plexus VD, foveal and parafoveal deep capillary plexus VD (DCPD) were lower by 0.994 ± 3.312% (p = .026), 2.403 ± 8.273% (p = .033), and 2.469 ± 4.095% (p < .001), respectively; CT was thicker by 30.6 ± 90.7 μm (p = .014); and CVI was higher by 1.920 ± 3.432% (p < 001) in the amblyopic eyes than in the non-amblyopic eyes. Following short-term patch occlusion treatment, foveal and parafoveal DCPD increased by 1.264 ± 3.829% (p = .017) and 1.028 ± 3.662% (p = .036), respectively, CT thinned by 15.5 ± 51.5 μm (p = .019), and CVI decreased by 1.296 ± 3.997% (p = .018) in the amblyopic eyes. Following patch occlusion treatment, as the foveal DCPD decreased and CVI increased, the BCVA improved (p = .017 and .035, respectively).

Conclusion

Following patch occlusion treatment, increased foveal DCPD and decreased CVI were associated with improved BCVA.

Keywords:

• Amblyopia
• choriocapillaris
• optical coherence tomography
• retinal vasculature
• patch occlusion treatment

Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.co.kr) for English language editing.

Author contributions

S.Y.L. and D.C.L. designed the study. J-G.K. and D.C.L. conducted the study. J-G.K., S.Y.L., and D.C.L. suggested new methods. J-G.K. and D.C.L. analyzed the data and wrote the manuscript, J-G.K., S.Y.L., and D.C.L. revised the manuscript. All authors have reviewed the final version of the manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no financial support for this article.