Macular Vessel Density in Diabetic Retinopathy Patients: How Can We Accurately Measure and What Can It Tell Us?

Abstract

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a non-invasive technology that provides depth-resolved images of the chorioretinal vasculature and allows for the understanding of the changes in vasculature with diabetic retinopathy. Not only can it provide qualitative information, but OCTA can also provide quantitative information about the vasculature in patients with diabetic retinopathy. Macular vessel density is one of the quantitative metrics that can be obtained from OCTA images. This is a repeatable and non-subjective measurement that can provide valuable insight into the pathophysiology of diabetic retinopathy. In this non-systematic review, the measurement of macular vessel density in diabetic retinopathy and the reasons for its importance in the diagnosis and management of patients with diabetes and varying severities of diabetic retinopathy is discussed.

Keywords:

• diabetic retinopathy
• macular vessel density
• OCTA

Disclosure

Dr Nadia K Waheed reports grants from Research to Prevent Blindness, during the conduct of the study; personal fees, non-financial support from Nidek, personal fees, non-financial support from Carl Meditec Zeiss, non-financial support from Heidelberg, personal fees from Topcon, and non-financial support from Optovue, outside the submitted work. The authors report no other conflicts of interest in this work.