2MD, Polatlı Duatepe State Hospital, Ophtalmotology Department, Ankara, Türkiye
3MD, Kırşehir Training and Research Hospital,Ophtalmotology Department, Kırşehir, Türkiye
4Prof. MD, Necmettin Erbakan University, Ophtalmotology Department, Konya, Türkiye DOI : 10.37845/ret.vit.2024.33.2 Purpose: We aimed to compare retinal microvascular changes occurring in different sex groups in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) patients without diabetic retinopathy (DR) with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) measurements.
Materials and Methods: This study included one eye of 48 different patients with type 2 DM who did not have any DR findings. Through the OCTA measurements of the patients, foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area (mm²), FAZ perimeter (mm), foveal density (FD), central macular thickness (CMT), and vascular density (VD) measurements were taken for superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP).
Results: When the DM group and the control group were compared, the mean FD was found to be statistically significantly lower in the diabetic group (p=0.02). SCP perifovea, perifovea temporal, nasal and inferior VD mean scores were statistically significantly lower in the diabetic group (p=0.04, p=0.04, p=0.02, p=0.03). The mean DCP parafovea, parafovea temporal and nasal VD (%) were found to be statistically significantly lower in the diabetic group as well (p=0.04, p=0.02, p=0.01). When males and females with DM were compared, SCP fovea and DCP fovea VD (%) values were found to be statistically significantly lower in females than males (p=0.01, p=0.02).
Conclusion: It was shown that FD and VD are affected by OCTA findings in DM patients without clinically detectable DR. In addition, it was detected that microvascular changes started earlier in females than in males. Therefore, it is thought that OCTA can be used for screening in diabetic patients.
Keywords : Diabetes mellitus, Diabetic retinopathy, Optical coherence tomography angiography, Optical coherence tomography