Polarization-Sensitive OCT Assessment of Retinal Emboli in Branch Retinal Artery Occlusion: A Pilot Study.

PURPOSE: To evaluate intraluminal emboli in branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) using polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT).

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

Eight eyes of 8 patients with BRAO were included. Fundus photography, swept-source (SS)-OCT, and PS-OCT were performed. Detection rates and entropic profiles of retinal emboli were examined.

RESULTS

In this retrospective study of 8 BRAO eyes, fundus photography found thromboemboli in five eyes (62.5%). While SS-OCT detected thromboembolus in two eyes (25.0%), PS-OCT identified in all (100%) eyes, demonstrating a higher detection rate than SS-OCT. Polarimetric entropy (PE) value of thromboemboli was significantly higher than that of background retina (p = 0.0078), whereas SS-OCT did not show significant difference in reflectivity. Image contrast was significantly higher in PS-OCT than SS-OCT (p = 0.0078).

CONCLUSION

PS-OCT enables noninvasive visualization of intraluminal embolic material and may provide additional pathophysiological insight beyond conventional OCT. However, these findings are based on a small retrospective cohort and require validation in larger prospective studies.