The analysis of optical coherence tomography angiographic parameters in patients with and without clinically significant diabetic macular edema

The aim of our study was to compare the parameters of optical coherence tomography angiography between eyes with clinically significant macular edema (CSME) and without (w/o) CSME in patients diagnosed with diabetic macular edema (DME). Sixty-eight eyes of 34 patients with DME were included in the cross-sectionally designed study. The eyes of the patients with DME were divided into 2 groups, including the eyes with CSME and the eyes w/o CSME. Optical coherence tomography (OCTA) parameters, including central macular thickness, superficial and deep capillary plexus, and choriocapillaris flow area were evaluated between these two groups. Eyes with CSME had a thicker central retinal thickness (CRT), (P≤0.001) and worse visual acuity (VA), (P=0.002), and there was a strong negative correlation between CRT and VA among patients with CSME (r=-0.616, P≤0.001). We observed increases in the vessel density (VD) measurements of the superficial fovea (P=0.006) and deep fovea areas (P=0.036), whereas reductions in the VD measurements of other deeper plexuses in the comparison of eyes with CSME and w/o CSME in patients with diagnosis of DME. We did not note significant differences between FAZ metrics. OCTA could be used as a noninvasive modality to assess and compare the structural and vasculature changes in diabetic patients with or/and w/o CSME. [Med-Science 2022; 11(1.000): 208-13]