Assessment of Retinal Microvasculature and Choroidal Vascularity After Intra-arterial Chemotherapy for Retinoblastoma: Retinal and Choroidal Vascular Assessment After IAC for RB

Xiuqian Yi; Xintong Lin; Chun Fang; Qiang Liu; Haifeng Chen; Jiang Qian; Kang Xue

doi:10.1016/j.ajo.2024.04.007

Assessment of Retinal Microvasculature and Choroidal Vascularity After Intra-arterial Chemotherapy for Retinoblastoma: Retinal and Choroidal Vascular Assessment After IAC for RB

Am J Ophthalmol. 2024 Apr 12:S0002-9394(24)00148-X. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2024.04.007. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Xiuqian Yi¹, Xintong Lin¹, Chun Fang², Qiang Liu³, Haifeng Chen¹, Jiang Qian⁴, Kang Xue⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Key Laboratory of Myopia of the State Health Ministry, and Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration of Shanghai, China.
² Department of Interventional Radiology, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
³ Department of Radiology, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China.
⁴ Department of Ophthalmology, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Key Laboratory of Myopia of the State Health Ministry, and Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration of Shanghai, China. Electronic address: qianjiang58@hotmail.com.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology, Eye, Ear, Nose, and Throat Hospital of Fudan University, Shanghai, China; Key Laboratory of Myopia of the State Health Ministry, and Key Laboratory of Visual Impairment and Restoration of Shanghai, China. Electronic address: xuekang@foxmail.com.

PMID: 38615831
DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2024.04.007

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate changes in retinal microvascular density and choroidal vascularity in patients with retinoblastoma (RB) after intra-arterial chemotherapy (IAC).

Design: Retrospective clinical cohort study.

Methods: This study included 12 unilateral RB eyes treated with IAC (RB tumour), 12 contralateral normal eyes (RB fellow), and 12 healthy controls. The macular retinal thickness and retinal microvascular structure, including foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, the macular and peripapillary superficial vessel density (SVD) and deep vessel density (DVD), were measured by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). The choroidal thickness (ChT) and choroidal vascularity, including total choroidal area (TCA), luminal area (LA), stromal area (SA) and Choroidal Vascularity Index (CVI), were measured by spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). A comparison among the three groups was conducted, while the correlations among the parameters were analyzed.

Results: Between the three cohorts, the foveal retinal thickness, the SVD, DVD, ChT, TCA, LA, SA and CVI were significantly lower in RB tumour compared to RB fellow and the control eyes (all P<0.01). There were no significant differences in the parameters between the contralateral and control eyes. The correlation analyses indicated a significant negative correlation between the total melphalan dose and foveal and parafoveal DVD, ChT, and LA.

Conclusions: The retinal microvascular density and choroidal vascularity were lower in unilateral RB treated with IAC, and seemed to be related to the total melphalan dose. Moreover there were no measurable changes in the contralateral eyes.

Keywords: choroidal vascularity; intraarterial chemotherapy; optical coherence tomography angiography; retinal microvascular density; retinoblastoma.