Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Sep 6, 2021; 9(25): 7365-7371
Published online Sep 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i25.7365
Quantitative analysis of early diabetic retinopathy based on optical coherence tomography angiography biological image
Yan Shi, Peng-Yao Lin, Yi-Meng Ruan, Cheng-Fei Lin, Shan-Shan Hua, Bo Li
Yan Shi, Peng-Yao Lin, Yi-Meng Ruan, Cheng-Fei Lin, Shan-Shan Hua, Bo Li, Department of Ophthalmology, Ningbo First Hospital, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China
Author contributions: Shi Y and Lin PY design the study; Ruan YM and Lin CF drafted the work and collected the data; Hua SS and Li B analysed and interpreted data and wrote the article.
Supported by Ningbo Natural Science Foundation of China, No. 2018A610362.
Institutional review board statement: The study was reviewed and approved by the Ningbo No. 1 Hospital Institutional Review Board (Approval No. 2018-R072).
Informed consent statement: All study participants, or their legal guardian, provided informed written consent prior to study enrollment.
Conflict-of-interest statement: None of the authors has a financial interest in any of the products, devices, or drugs mentioned in this manuscript.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Bo Li, MD, Attending Doctor, Department of Ophthalmology, Ningbo First Hospital, No. 59 Liuting Street, Haishu District, Ningbo 315000, Zhejiang Province, China. nblibo@foxmail.com
Received: April 8, 2021
Peer-review started: April 8, 2021
First decision: April 28, 2021
Revised: July 3, 2021
Accepted: July 28, 2021
Article in press: July 28, 2021
Published online: September 6, 2021
Processing time: 144 Days and 22.1 Hours
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

According to the latest epidemiological survey data from the International Diabetes Federation, diabetic retinopathy (DR) occurs in 24.8% to 37.5% of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) in China.

Research motivation

The early prevention and treatment of DR are challenging and are urgent problems to be solved.

Research objectives

Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) was used to evaluate the macular area and demonstrate that it can be used as an early fundus screening method for patients with DM.

Research methods

All selected participants underwent examination for best-corrected visual acuity and intraocular pressure, optometry, slit lamp examination, fundus examination, fundus fluorescein angiography, and OCTA (Heidelberg Engineering, Germany).

Research results

The values of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ), FAZ circularity index, number of branches in the area, and the total of the single branches’ length in the area of the no DR group and the NPDR groups were statistically different from the control group. The said parameters are also statistically different between the two groups.

Research conclusions

OCTA is a new screening tool for patients with DM, and timely monitoring of clinical fundus changes before disease progression might allow for early diagnosis and treatment of DR.

Research perspectives

A novel approach provides novel insights for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases.