title: The role of optical coherence tomography angiography in fundus vascular abnormalities.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  To evaluate the role of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in observation of fundus vascular abnormalities.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients (n = 50, 10 in each group) with fundus disorders including branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO), non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) were examined. They underwent imaging of OCTA and fluorescein angiography/indocyanine green angiography. The split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography algorithm was employed to obtain angiography within a 6 × 6 mm scanning area at the posterior retina. Segmentation algorithm was used to obtain 2-dimensional images from arbitrary layers. The OCTA features were analyzed and compared with the findings of conventional angiography. The contralateral eyes of the patients with BRVO and the eyes of 20 healthy volunteers served as controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  OCTA showed precise images of normal and abnormal vasculature in the posterior retina and choroid by the given layers. Vascular abnormalities such as enlarged foveal avascular zone (FAZ), non-perfusion area of retina, microaneurysm, retinal neovascularization, choroidal neovascularization (CNV), branching vascular network and polypoidal lesions in choroid were clearly displayed by OCTA.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  OCTA provided a better projection of vascular pathologies of the posterior retina and choroid and could determine the precise location of the vascular lesion. The noninvasive OCTA can benefit the diagnosis of vascular abnormalities in the posterior retina and choroid.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Di
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cao
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Ruyuan
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Bingqian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Tao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China.
authors.forename: Yan
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Ophthalmology, Zhongshan Image Reading Center, Zhongshan Ophthalmic Center, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou, 510060, China. lulin888@126.com.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography / Q000379:methods; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging; D015862:Choroid Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D012171:Retinal Vessels / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods
keywords: BRVO; CNV; DR; Fundus vascular abnormalities; Optical coherence tomography angiography; PCV