To explore retinal abnormalities using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and OCT-angiography (OCT-A) in a highly selective cohort of patients with type I hereditary angioedema (HAE). This prospective case-control study included 40 type I HAE patients and 40 age-/sex-matched healthy subjects (HC). All participants underwent SD-OCT-scanning of retinal posterior pole (PP), peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL), and optic nerve head (ONH). Superficial/deep capillary density was analyzed by OCT-A. A total of 80 eyes from 40 HAE and 40 eyes from HC were evaluated. The pRNFL was thicker in HAE than in HC in nasal superior (p < 0.0001) and temporal quadrants (p = 0.0005 left, p = 0.003 right). The ONH thickness in HAE patients was greater than in HC in the nasal (p = 0.008 left, p = 0.01 right), temporal (p = 0.0005 left, p = 0.003 right), temporal inferior (p = 0.007 left, p = 0.0008 right), and global (p = 0.005 left, p = 0.007 right) scans. Compared to HC, HAE showed a lower capillary density in both superficial (p = 0.001 left, p = 0.006 right) and deep (p = 0.008 left, p = 0.004 right) whole images, and superficial (p = 0.03 left) and deep parafoveal (p = 0.007 left, p = 0.005 right) areas. Our findings documented subclinical retinal abnormalities in type I HAE, supporting a potential role of the retinal assessment by SD-OCT/OCT-A as a useful tool in the comprehensive care of HAE patients.
Keywords: OCT; OCT-A; complement system; hereditary angioedema; retina.