Retinal neurodegeneration and choroidal changes of early diabetes in peripapillary region detected by swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography.

PURPOSE: This study was designed to evaluate peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) and choroidal alterations in diabetic patients without diabetic retinopathy (NDR), and further explore their association utilizing ultrawide-field swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (UWF-SS-OCTA).

METHODS

This cross-sectional study included 169 eyes of 169 NDR subjects and 54 eyes of 54 healthy controls. pRNFL, choroidal thickness and volume were compared and measured with UWF-SS-OCTA. The association between pRNFL and choroidal parameters was assessed with Spearman correlation analysis. Further multivariate linear regression analysis was performed to evaluate their relationship after adjusting for confounding factors.

RESULTS

Compared with healthy controls, NDR patients showed reduced choroidal thickness and volume in the full range and several peripapillary subfields, while a statistical decrease of pRNFL was only detected in the inferior quadrant (P = 0.04). Regarding the distribution profiles in the peripapillary region, the choroid was thickest in the temporal region and thinnest in the inferior region, and a more prominent decrease compared with controls was found in the inferior region. Average pRNFL thickness was independently associated with full-range mean choroidal volume in multiple regression analysis (β = 0.16, P = 0.04).

CONCLUSION

As two early signs of DR, choroidal thinning could precede retinal neurodegeneration. Decreased choroidal thickness may account for the susceptibility of RNFL thinning.