Quantitative assessment of age-related retinal and choriocapillaris blood flow changes in a healthy Korean population using optical coherence tomography angiography.

This study aimed to evaluate macular blood flow changes in a Korean population using quantitative optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Healthy Korean participants were imaged with swept-source OCTA, and all eyes were scanned twice using a 6 × 6 mm protocol centered on the fovea. En face images of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and choriocapillaris (CC) were obtained with a multilayer segmentation algorithm. Quantitative parameters included CC flow deficits (CCFDs) and vessel density (VD) in the SCP and DCP, with the main outcome being age-related changes in these parameters. Of 436 participants, 351 were included and categorized by age: 20s (n = 57), 30s (n = 37), 40s (n = 42), 50s (n = 44), 60s (n = 76), 70s (n = 76), and 80s (n = 19). The 20s group had higher SCP VDs (37.3%) than the 50s (36.7%), 60s (36.6%), 70s (36.2%), and 80s (35.6%) (p < 0.05). DCP VD was lower in the 20s (26.2%) than in the 60s (27.2%), 70s (27.7%), and 80s (28.5%) (p < 0.05). CCFDs were lower in the 20s (17.7%) than in all older groups (p < 0.05). In healthy Koreans, macular blood flow showed significant age-related changes, with SCP decrease (from the 50s), DCP increase (from the 60s), and CC decline (from the 30s).