scholarly journals Dark Signals in the Choroidal Vasculature on Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography: An Artefact or Not?

2017 ◽  
Vol 2017 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Hua ◽  
Hailin Wang

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) based on mathematical processing of sequentially acquired structural OCT images has been applied widely in both retinal and choroidal research and may have advantages over traditional angiography. Images obtained by OCTA are rendered under the assumption that the only moving entity in the retina is blood flow. Optical phenomena and image processing algorithms may create imaging artefacts. Therefore, OCTA images require careful interpretation. This review discusses the dark signals seen in the choroidal vasculature on OCTA using multiple factor analysis. For accurate and comprehensive interpretation of the choroidal vasculature, we recommend simultaneous consideration of the laser light penetration depth and masking effect of retinal pigment epithelium, the orientation of vessels in relation to the scanning lasers and blood flow, the range of regional detectable velocity of blood flow, atrophic tissues in the periphery, and absorption of superior vessels on the scanning laser.

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 595-599 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Scupola ◽  
Gabriela Grimaldi ◽  
Maria G Sammarco ◽  
Paola Sasso ◽  
Michele Marullo ◽  
...  

Purpose: Combined hamartoma of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium is a rare benign tumor characterized by a variable combination of glial, vascular, and pigmented components. The purpose of our study was to analyze the features of combined hamartoma of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium on optical coherence tomography angiography. Methods: Small case series of two cases of combined hamartoma of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium with macular and optic nerve involvement, evaluated with multimodal imaging including optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, and optical coherence tomography angiography. Results: On optical coherence tomography, combined hamartoma of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium is characterized by disruption of the inner neurosensory retina and a variable degree of involvement of the external retina. Optical coherence tomography angiography showed diffuse alterations of the retinal vessels of the superficial and deeper layers, extended to the peripapillary area. Vessel abnormalities included increased tortuosity and caliber of vessels, vascular traction, and vessel stretching within the lesion. Conclusion: Optical coherence tomography angiography allows in-depth multilayer analysis of tumor vascular network, highlighting the fine abnormalities of retinal vasculature characteristic of combined hamartoma of the retina and retinal pigment epithelium.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Livia Tomasso ◽  
Lucia Benatti ◽  
Carlo La Spina ◽  
Rosangela Lattanzio ◽  
Giovanni Baldin ◽  
...  

Purpose Handheld laser pointer thermal injury affects primarily the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). However, so far no study has reported on the possible effects of laser pointers in the deeper layers, beneath the RPE. Here, we describe the spectral-domain optical coherence tomography angiography findings in the choriocapillaris of a patient with laser maculopathy. Methods A 13-year-old boy presented to our department with decreased vision in the left eye 12 hours after having stared at the beam of a laser pointer. Results Structural optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed 2 focal hyperreflective columns at the fovea extending from the RPE, involving all outer retinal layers, and terminating at the outer plexiform layer. The patient also underwent OCT angiography (OCT-A), which in the choriocapillary segmentation revealed 2 hypointense lesions in correspondence of the focal hyperreflectivities detected on structural OCT. We hypothesize that the OCT-A findings could represent a rarefaction of the choriocapillaris. However, the choriocapillary OCT-A findings could also represent artifacts due to the overlaying hyperreflective lesions. Conclusions It is known that the RPE is primarily damaged by the laser injury. Our findings suggest that the thermal injury could involve also the choriocapillaris, and thus not limited to the RPE. Multimodal imaging in laser maculopathy including OCT-A may lead to a better comprehension of the pathogenesis of laser retinal damages.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 39-47
Author(s):  
S. I. Zhukova ◽  
A. N. Zlobina ◽  
T. N. Iureva ◽  
A. A. Shchuko

Introduction and purpose. Central serous chorioretinopathy - a disease that manifests itself serous detachment of the neurosensory retina and / or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). Chronic course of pathological process may be complicated by the development of subretinal neovascularization, and is accompanied by a decrease in visual functions. Despite the large number of studies, there are no pathogenetically oriented and effective methods of treatment of central serous chorioretinopathy today, because there is no consensus on the causes of its origin. To evaluate the accuracy of the information content of chorioretinal blood flow changes in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy, to compare the degree of changes of RPE and hemodynamic disorders in different forms of the disease. Materials and Methods. The study involved 26 patients with central serous chorioretinopathy aged 35 to 54 years. To assess chorioretinal blood flow the optical coherence tomography (OCT) in retinal angiography mode was included in the volume of diagnostic examination. Results. It was demonstrated that the choroidal vessels and RPE are an original target in the realization of the pathological process in central serous chorioretinopathy. The changes in the pigment epithelium and the neurosensory retinal detachment, whose height ranged from 53.4 to 513.0 m (238.3 ± 80.4 - in acute and - 215.5 ± 129.9 - in chronic diseases) were revealed in all patients. In 45 % of cases of acute and 67 % in patients with a chronic form of disease the neurosensory retinal detachment combined with RPE detachment, preventing recovery of macular interface on a background of medical actions. Prolonged existence of ischemia and RPE detachment is accompanied by severe progressive degenerative changes in the retina as a whole, causing resistance to treatment. Conclusions. OCT in angiography mode in the diagnosis of various forms of chorioretinal central serous chorioretinopathy allows visualizing blood flow, evaluating the extent and nature of the structural changes of the retina taking into account hemodynamic disorders. The revealed changes of RPE and choroid, as classification and prognostic criteria of the disease, determine the effectiveness of treatment measures and prognosis of disease.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Macedo ◽  
Dominika Pohlmann ◽  
Matthias Lenglinger ◽  
Uwe Pleyer ◽  
Antonia M. Joussen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. To describe changes in the retina/choroid in patients with Serpiginous Choroiditis (SC) by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) in a multimodal imaging approach. Methods. Prospective, monocentric study of 24 eyes of 12 consenting patients diagnosed with SC, who underwent OCTA, which was analyzed and compared to other methods such as enhanced depth imaging-OCT, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, and fundus autofluorescence. Results. The study group consisted of 9 patients with peripapillary SC, 1 macular SC, and 2 atypical cases. All eyes presented an inactive SC confirmed by standard imaging. OCTA demonstrated the lesions tridimensionally in great detail. There was no difference in the angioarchitecture among the 3 forms of SC. A loss of the choriocapillaris/retinal pigment epithelium left a “window-defect”, where the vessels of larger caliber of the choroid became recognizable and their appearance inverted (“white-on-black”). A relationship between the presence of segmentation errors (SE) in the slabs and low visual acuity was established with a one-way ANOVA. Conclusions. OCTA was able to non-invasively assess vascular lesions of the choroid/retina in patients with SC with a high degree of correlation to other diagnostic modalities. Consequent long-term assessments could lead to a better understanding of disease progression.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-5
Author(s):  
Tahsin Khundkar ◽  
Syed R. Hasan ◽  
Mark P. Breazzano ◽  
Constance Mei ◽  
Brandon B. Johnson

Purpose. To present a case of acute idiopathic maculopathy (AIM) and illustrate primary choroidal perfusion defect using multimodal imaging. Case Description. We report a case of a 24-year-old man with a paracentral scotoma of the right eye and recent flu-like illness. The patient was found to have a unilateral ovoid-shaped, placoid lesion just inferior to the fovea. Multimodal imaging confirmed findings most consistent with a diagnosis of acute idiopathic maculopathy (AIM). Serologic studies confirmed a strongly positive immunoglobulin G (IgG) titer for coxsackievirus A. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography angiography (SD-OCTA) showed bilateral areas of vascular reduction at the level of the choriocapillaris and choroid, sparing the retinal circulation. Conclusions and Importance. The changes in outer retina and retinal pigment epithelium, classically described in AIM, are likely secondary to choroidal hypoperfusion.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergio Macedo ◽  
Dominika Pohlmann ◽  
Matthias Lenglinger ◽  
Uwe Pleyer ◽  
Antonia M. Joussen ◽  
...  

Abstract Background. To describe changes in the retina/choroid in patients with Serpiginous Choroiditis (SC) by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCTA) in a multimodal imaging approach.Methods. Prospective, monocentric study of 24 eyes of 12 consenting patients diagnosed with SC, who underwent OCTA, which was analyzed and compared to other methods such as enhanced depth imaging-OCT, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, and fundus autofluorescence. Results. The study group consisted of 9 patients with peripapillary SC, 1 macular SC, and 2 atypical cases. All eyes presented an inactive SC confirmed by standard imaging. OCTA demonstrated the lesions tridimensionally in great detail. There was no difference in the angioarchitecture among the 3 forms of SC. A loss of the choriocapillaris/retinal pigment epithelium left a “window-defect”, where the vessels of larger caliber of the choroid became recognizable and their appearance inverted (“white-on-black”). A relationship between the presence of segmentation errors (SE) in the slabs and low visual acuity was established with a one-way ANOVA.Conclusions. OCTA was able to non-invasively assess vascular lesions of the choroid/retina in patients with SC with a high degree of correlation to other diagnostic modalities. Consequent long-term assessments could lead to a better understanding of disease progression.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. e32-e34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Mazzaferro ◽  
Adriano Carnevali ◽  
Ilaria Zucchiatti ◽  
Lea Querques ◽  
Francesco Bandello ◽  
...  

Purpose To evaluate the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) features of a peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation (ICC) in a patient with high myopia. Methods A 67-year-old woman with ICC underwent visual acuity testing, refraction, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, dilated fundus examination, and OCT-A. The main findings are described in this case report. Results Best-corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes. Fundus examination revealed in the right eye a macular scar, a tilted disc along with a peripapillary staphyloma, and an orange-yellowish lesion on the inferior border of the disc. Structural OCT B-scan showed ICC as an intrachoroidal hyporeflective space located below the normal plane of the retinal pigment epithelium adjacent to the optic nerve head. Optical coherence tomography angiography showed the cavitation as a hyporeflective area, devoid of detectable flow from the choriocapillaris and large choroidal vessels layers, suggesting the choroid, including the residual hyperreflective tissue in the outer aspect of the retinal pigment epithelium/Bruch membrane, to be avascular in ICC. Conclusions Optical coherence tomography angiography demonstrated the absence of choroidal and choriocapillary network.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliana Costanzo ◽  
Salomon Yves Cohen ◽  
Alexandra Miere ◽  
Giuseppe Querques ◽  
Vittorio Capuano ◽  
...  

Purpose. To analyze optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) findings in eyes with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and to compare them with those obtained with multimodal imaging.Methods. A series of consecutive patients diagnosed with CSC, underwent OCTA and multimodal imaging, including spectral domain OCT, fluorescein, and indocyanine green angiography. OCTA images were performed at three main depth intervals: automatically segmented outer retina, manually adjusted outer retina, and automatically segmented choriocapillaris.Results. Thirty-three eyes of 32 consecutive patients were analyzed. OCTA showed 3 main anomalies at the choriocapillaris: the presence of dark areas (19/33 eyes) which were frequently associated with serous retinal detachment, presence of dark spots (7/33 eyes) which were frequently associated with retinal pigment epithelium detachment, and presence of abnormal vessels (12/33 eyes) which were frequently, but not systematically, associated with choroidal neovascularization, as confirmed by multimodal imaging.Conclusions. OCTA revealed dark areas and dark spots, which were commonly observed. An abnormal choroidal pattern was also observed in one-third of cases, even when multimodal imaging did not evidence any choroidal neovascularization. Abnormal choroidal vessels should be interpreted with caution, and we could assume that this pathological choroidal vascular pattern observed in many CSC cases could be distinct from CNV.


2018 ◽  
Vol 103 (3) ◽  
pp. 410-414 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Casalino ◽  
Alessandro Arrigo ◽  
Francesco Romano ◽  
Marion R Munk ◽  
Francesco Bandello ◽  
...  

AimTo describe the optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) features of patients affected by acute macular neuroretinopathy (AMN).Methods This is a prospective, observational, cross-sectional study. Multimodal imaging, including spectral domain OCT (Spectralis HRA+OCT; Heidelberg Engineering, Heidelberg, Germany) and 6×6 mm swept source OCT-A (ZEISS PLEX Elite 9000; ZEISS, Dublin, California), was performed on all patients. The primary outcome measure was assessment of the vascular alterations of the superficial (SCP) and deep (DCP) capillary plexuses and choriocapillaris (CC). A segmentation of the AMN lesions using enface OCT images of photoreceptors-retinal pigment epithelium complex was used to discriminate intralesional and extralesional regions on the OCT-A enface slabs of the DCP and CC reconstructions. Each OCT-A slab was imported into ImageJ V.1.50 and digitally binarised for quantitative analyses.ResultsOverall, seven patients (mean age 19.4±3.2 years, six women) affected by AMN were included. The mean best-corrected visual acuity was 0.00±0.00 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution. Twelve healthy age-matched subjects (mean age 22±3.4 years, 10 women) represented the control group. The quantitative analysis of global vessel densities showed that the CC vessel density was significantly lower in patients with AMN (0.495±0.03) compared with the age-matched controls (0.545±0.02) (corrected p=0.0003). The intralesional vessel density of the DCP was 0.349±0.04 in AMN and vs 0.497±0.02 in the controls (corrected p=0.0002).ConclusionsOur study confirmed inner choroidal vascular flow void as a possible pathogenetic mechanism of AMN. We also found a focal impairment of the DCP within the AMN lesions. Future studies are needed to clarify which is the primary location of the vascular insult in this condition.


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