Deep Capillary Plexus as Biomarker of Peripheral Capillary Nonperfusion in Central Retinal Vein Occlusion

Purpose: To identify the vascular biomarkers of peripheral capillary nonperfusion in patients affected by naive central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO), and to analyze their changes over the follow-up. Study Design: Consecutive prospective case series with a planned follow-up of 2 years. Participants: Thirty-five patients affected by CRVO and 35 healthy gender- and age-matched subjects were enrolled in the study. Methods: Ophthalmic examination included best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), ultrawidefield fluorescein angiography (UWFFA), OCT, and OCT angiography (OCTA). Main Outcome Measures: Vessel density (VD) at the superficial capillary plexus and deep capillary plexus (DCP) were calculated on OCTA images. The ischemic index (ISI) was calculated on UWFFA. Results: The mean baseline ISI was 37%, increasing to 40% at the end of the follow-up, whereas it was 4.9% in the patients’ fellow eyes and 4.5% in the control group with no change over the follow-up. OCT angiography revealed VD reduction in the DCP, considering both 3 × 3 mm and 12 × 12 mm scans. The correlation analyses revealed that DCP VD was the only parameter showing a statistically significant correlation with the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, BCVA, and ISI. Conclusions: Deep capillary plexus VD impairment is detectable in all CRVO cases, variably involving both the central retina (with enlarged FAZ) and the periphery (with VD reduction in the peripheral retina). The severity of DCP VD reduction has correlates with various clinical markers. Deep capillary plexus VD may represent a crucial biomarker to characterize CRVO, and further studies are necessary to identify the cutoff thresholds for the different clinical manifestations. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found after the references.