OCT-Angiography Comparison between Obstructive Sleep Apnea Children and Normal Subjects in China

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) to compare the retinal micro vessel alteration between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) children and normal subjects.

Methods

One hundred-thirty-two eyes (132 participants) were recruited in this study. The average age of OSA group (66 eyes) and healthy control group (66 eyes) were 6.23 ± 1.73 and 6.76 ± 1.89 years, respectively. The retinal vascular network density indices and the fovea avascular zone (FAZ) size were analyzed by OCT-A.

Results

All of the OCT-A parafoveal vessel indices, including the vascular diameter (VD), vascular area density (VAD), vascular skeleton density (VSD), and vessel perimeter index (VPI) in the macular superficial/deep capillary plexus (SCP/DCP) as well as the FAZ in the DCP, were significantly lower in the OSA group than in the control group (p < .05). The four parafoveal quadrants indices (temporal, superior, nasal, and inferior) of VD and VAD in both the two layer were significantly lower in the OSA group than in control group (p < .05). However, the differences of VSD and VPI indices in the SCP/DCP did not show statistical significant changes.

Conclusion

The intermittent hypoxia in children with OSA might influence the retinal capillary vascular supply. We speculate that the indices of the quadrants are lower in OSA children compared with those in healthy controls, which may be due to the change of the retinal metabolic demands. OCT-A is an ideal method to evaluate the retinal alterations in pediatric OSA.

Abbreviations

OCT-A: optical coherence tomography angiography; OSA: obstructive sleep apnea; FAZ: fovea avascular zone; VD: vascular diameter; VAD: vascular area density; VSD: vascular skeleton density; VPI: vessel perimeter index; SCP/DCP: superficial/deep capillary plexus; BCVA: best corrected visual acuity; SE: spherical equivalent; AL: ocular axial length; T: temporal; N: nasal; (S): superior; (I): inferior; (SD): standard deviation

KEYWORDS:

• Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA)
• optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A)
• children
• fovea avascular zone (FAZ)
• vessel density

Conflicts of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical authorization and informed consent

This project received ethics clearance from the Institutional Ethical Review Board of the Shanghai Children’s Hospital that followed the ethical standards of the Helsinki declaration and the corresponding amendments. Informed consent was obtained from all of the parents of the children that participated in this study. Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Funding

This study received no funding.