Translational Vision Science & Technology· 2026Q1
Impact of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Scan Protocols on Quantitative Microvascular Biomarkers in Diabetic Retinopathy
- 0citations
- Q1SCImago
- 2026year
Short summary
Wider OCTA scan protocols (29x24 mm) capture a greater burden of microvascular abnormalities in diabetic retinopathy (DR), with the nonperfusion index (NPI) showing superior performance (AUC 0.92) in staging advanced DR compared to smaller scans.
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Key points
- Wider OCTA scan protocols (29x24 mm) increase the detection of nonperfusion index (NPI) and intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMA) in diabetic retinopathy (DR).
- The 29x24 mm scan protocol with NPI achieved an AUC of 0.92 for discriminating advanced DR from early DR.
- The 6x6 mm scan protocol showed improved staging performance when combining NPI and IRMA counts (AUC 0.87) compared to NPI alone (AUC 0.81).
- Wider scans detected more neovascularization (NV) in proliferative DR (PDR).
AI-generated from the title and abstract; the full text is not read.
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) scan protocols on quantitative measurements of diabetic retinopathy (DR) biomarkers and their diagnostic performance for DR staging. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 110 eyes from 74 treatment-naïve patients with DR underwent OCTA imaging using 6 × 6 mm, 12 × 12 mm, and 29 × 24 mm scan protocols. OCTA biomarkers, including nonperfusion index (NPI), intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (IRMAs) counts, and neovascularization (NV) counts, were analyzed. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis evaluated performance for discriminating proliferative DR (PDR) from nonproliferative DR (NPDR), and advanced-stage DR (severe NPDR and PDR) from early-stage DR (mild–moderate NPDR). Results: NPI and IRMA counts increased with wider scan protocols across DR severities, with higher NV detection in PDR on wider scans. NPI showed higher performance with 29 × 24 mm scans in discriminating PDR from NPDR (0.86; 95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.79–0.93) and advanced from early DR (0.92; 95% CI = 0.88–0.97) compared with smaller scan protocols. In 6 × 6 mm scans, the combined NPI and IRMA counts outperformed NPI for discriminating advanced from early DR (0.87; 95% CI = 0.81–0.94 vs. 0.81; 95% CI = 0.72–0.89) and PDR from NPDR (0.82; 95% CI = 0.74–0.91 vs. 0.73; 95% CI = 0.62–0.83). Conclusions: Wider scan protocols captured greater burden of nonperfusion and microvascular abnormalities. NPI serves as a robust standalone biomarker across protocols. When imaging is limited to smaller fields, combining NPI and IRMA counts improves staging performance. Translational Relevance: OCTA scan protocol selection influences quantitative assessment of DR biomarkers and may guide imaging strategies for clinical staging.
The authors' abstract, as published at the source. Translational Vision Science & Technology, 2026 · DOI ↗
Continue with a free account
Ask the paper: 3 free questions a day about this paper; save it, get its citation, new summaries every day for your field. Takeaways are Premium.
Continue free on the webSign in with Google or Apple; no card needed. You come back to this paper.
On your phone:
Field: Ophthalmology
OphthalmologyMedicine