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Joseph S, Haystead A, Robbins CB, Threlfall A, MacGillivray TJ, Stinnett S, Grewal DS, Fekrat S. Analysis of the Retinal and Choroidal Vasculature Using Ultrawidefield Fundus Imaging in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Normal Cognition. OPHTHALMOLOGY SCIENCE 2024; 4:100480. [PMID: 38827032 PMCID: PMC11141260 DOI: 10.1016/j.xops.2024.100480] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/17/2023] [Revised: 01/22/2024] [Accepted: 01/23/2024] [Indexed: 06/04/2024]
Abstract
Purpose To utilize ultrawidefield (UWF) imaging to evaluate retinal and choroidal vasculature and structure in individuals with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) compared with that of controls with normal cognition. Design Prospective cross sectional study. Participants One hundred thirty-one eyes of 82 MCI patients and 230 eyes of 133 cognitively normal participants from the Eye Multimodal Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disease Study. Methods A scanning laser ophthalmoscope (California, Optos Inc) was used to obtain UWF fundus color images. Images were analyzed with the Vasculature Assessment Platform for Images of the Retina UWF (VAMPIRE-UWF 2.0, Universities of Edinburgh and Dundee) software. Main outcome measures Imaging parameters included vessel width gradient, vessel width intercept, large vessel choroidal vascular density, vessel tortuosity, and vessel fractal dimension. Results Both retinal artery and vein width gradients were less negative in MCI patients compared with controls, demonstrating decreased rates of vessel thinning at the periphery (P < 0.001; P = 0.027). Retinal artery and vein width intercepts, a metric that extrapolates the width of the vessel at the center of the optic disc, were smaller in MCI patients compared with that of controls (P < 0.001; P = 0.017). The large vessel choroidal vascular density, which quantifies the vascular area versus the total choroidal area, was greater in MCI patients compared with controls (P = 0.025). Conclusions When compared with controls with normal cognition, MCI patients had thinner retinal vasculature manifested in both the retinal arteries and the veins. In MCI, these thinner arteries and veins attenuated at a lower rate when traveling toward the periphery. MCI patients also had increased choroidal vascular density. Financial Disclosures Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suzanna Joseph
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Alice Haystead
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Cason B. Robbins
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Adam Threlfall
- Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Tom J. MacGillivray
- Centre for Clinical Brain Science, University of Edinburgh, Scotland, United Kingdom
| | - Sandra Stinnett
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Dilraj S. Grewal
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Sharon Fekrat
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Department of Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
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Engelmann J, Burke J, Hamid C, Reid-Schachter M, Pugh D, Dhaun N, Moukaddem D, Gray L, Strang N, McGraw P, Storkey A, Steptoe PJ, King S, MacGillivray T, Bernabeu MO, MacCormick IJC. Choroidalyzer: An Open-Source, End-to-End Pipeline for Choroidal Analysis in Optical Coherence Tomography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2024; 65:6. [PMID: 38833259 PMCID: PMC11156207 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.6.6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2023] [Accepted: 04/22/2024] [Indexed: 06/06/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose To develop Choroidalyzer, an open-source, end-to-end pipeline for segmenting the choroid region, vessels, and fovea, and deriving choroidal thickness, area, and vascular index. Methods We used 5600 OCT B-scans (233 subjects, six systemic disease cohorts, three device types, two manufacturers). To generate region and vessel ground-truths, we used state-of-the-art automatic methods following manual correction of inaccurate segmentations, with foveal positions manually annotated. We trained a U-Net deep learning model to detect the region, vessels, and fovea to calculate choroid thickness, area, and vascular index in a fovea-centered region of interest. We analyzed segmentation agreement (AUC, Dice) and choroid metrics agreement (Pearson, Spearman, mean absolute error [MAE]) in internal and external test sets. We compared Choroidalyzer to two manual graders on a small subset of external test images and examined cases of high error. Results Choroidalyzer took 0.299 seconds per image on a standard laptop and achieved excellent region (Dice: internal 0.9789, external 0.9749), very good vessel segmentation performance (Dice: internal 0.8817, external 0.8703), and excellent fovea location prediction (MAE: internal 3.9 pixels, external 3.4 pixels). For thickness, area, and vascular index, Pearson correlations were 0.9754, 0.9815, and 0.8285 (internal)/0.9831, 0.9779, 0.7948 (external), respectively (all P < 0.0001). Choroidalyzer's agreement with graders was comparable to the intergrader agreement across all metrics. Conclusions Choroidalyzer is an open-source, end-to-end pipeline that accurately segments the choroid and reliably extracts thickness, area, and vascular index. Especially choroidal vessel segmentation is a difficult and subjective task, and fully automatic methods like Choroidalyzer could provide objectivity and standardization.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Engelmann
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Centre for Medical Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Jamie Burke
- School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Charlene Hamid
- Clinical Research Facility and Imaging, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Megan Reid-Schachter
- Clinical Research Facility and Imaging, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Dan Pugh
- British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Neeraj Dhaun
- British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Diana Moukaddem
- Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Lyle Gray
- Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Niall Strang
- Department of Vision Sciences, Glasgow Caledonian University, Glasgow, United Kingdom
| | - Paul McGraw
- School of Psychology, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, United Kingdom
| | - Amos Storkey
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Paul J. Steptoe
- Princess Alexandra Eye Pavilion, NHS Lothian, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Stuart King
- School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Tom MacGillivray
- Clinical Research Facility and Imaging, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Miguel O. Bernabeu
- Centre for Medical Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- The Bayes Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
| | - Ian J. C. MacCormick
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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Corradetti G, Oncel D, Kadomoto S, Arakaki X, Kloner RA, Sadun AA, Sadda SR, Chan JW. Choriocapillaris and Retinal Vascular Alterations in Presymptomatic Alzheimer's Disease. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 2024; 65:47. [PMID: 38294804 PMCID: PMC10839815 DOI: 10.1167/iovs.65.1.47] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/15/2023] [Accepted: 01/08/2024] [Indexed: 02/01/2024] Open
Abstract
Purpose To compare optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) retina metrics between cognitively healthy subjects with pathological versus normal cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) Aβ42/tau ratios. Methods Swept-source OCTA scans were collected using the Zeiss PLEX Elite 9000 and analyzed on 23 cognitively healthy (CH) subjects who had previously undergone CSF analysis. Thirteen subjects had a pathological Aβ42/tau (PAT) ratio of <2.7132, indicative of presymptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD), and 10 had a normal Aβ42/tau (NAT) ratio of ≥2.7132. OCTA en face images of the superficial vascular complex (SVC) and deep vascular complex were binarized and skeletonized to quantify the perfusion density (PD), vessel length density (VLD), and fractal dimension (FrD). The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area was calculated using the SVC slab. Choriocapillaris flow deficits (CCFDs) were computed from the en face OCTA slab of the CC. The above parameters were compared between CH-PATs and CH-NATs. Results Compared to CH-NATs, CH-PATs showed significantly decreased PD, VLD, and FrD in the SVC, with a significantly increased FAZ area and CCFDs. Conclusions Swept-source OCTA analysis of the SVC and CC suggests a significant vascular loss at the CH stage of pre-AD that might be an indicator of a neurodegenerative process initiated by the impaired clearance of Aβ42 in the blood vessel wall and by phosphorylated tau accumulation in the perivascular spaces, a process that most likely mirrors that in the brain. If confirmed in larger longitudinal studies, OCTA retinal and inner choroidal metrics may be important biomarkers for assessing presymptomatic AD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Giulia Corradetti
- Doheny Eye Institute, Pasadena, California, United States
- Department of Ophthalmology David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | - Deniz Oncel
- Doheny Eye Institute, Pasadena, California, United States
| | - Shin Kadomoto
- Doheny Eye Institute, Pasadena, California, United States
| | - Xianghong Arakaki
- Cognition and Brain Integration Laboratory, Department of Neurosciences, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, California, United States
| | - Robert A. Kloner
- Clinical Neuroscience, Department of Neurosciences, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, California, United States
- Cardiovascular Research Institute, Huntington Medical Research Institutes, Pasadena, California, United States
- Cardiovascular Division, Department of Medicine Keck School of Medicine of University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | - Alfredo A. Sadun
- Doheny Eye Institute, Pasadena, California, United States
- Department of Ophthalmology David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | - SriniVas R. Sadda
- Doheny Eye Institute, Pasadena, California, United States
- Department of Ophthalmology David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
| | - Jane W. Chan
- Doheny Eye Institute, Pasadena, California, United States
- Department of Ophthalmology David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California, United States
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Otin S, Ávila FJ, Mallen V, Garcia-Martin E. Detecting Structural Changes in the Choroidal Layer of the Eye in Neurodegenerative Disease Patients through Optical Coherence Tomography Image Processing. Biomedicines 2023; 11:2986. [PMID: 38001986 PMCID: PMC10669633 DOI: 10.3390/biomedicines11112986] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2023] [Revised: 10/31/2023] [Accepted: 11/03/2023] [Indexed: 11/26/2023] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate alterations of the choroid in patients with a neurodegenerative disease versus healthy controls, a custom algorithm based on superpixel segmentation was used. DESIGN A cross-sectional study was conducted on data obtained in a previous cohort study. SUBJECTS Swept-source optical coherence tomography (OCT) B-scan images obtained using a Triton (Topcon, Japan) device were compiled according to current OSCAR IB and APOSTEL OCT image quality criteria. Images were included from three cohorts: multiple sclerosis (MS) patients, Parkinson disease (PD) patients, and healthy subjects. Only patients with early-stage MS and PD were included. METHODS In total, 104 OCT B-scan images were processed using a custom superpixel segmentation (SpS) algorithm to detect boundary limits in the choroidal layer and the optical properties of the image. The algorithm groups pixels with similar structural properties to generate clusters with similar meaningful properties. MAIN OUTCOMES SpS selects and groups the superpixels in a segmented choroidal area, computing the choroidal optical image density (COID), measured as the standard mean gray level, and the total choroidal area (CA), measured as px2. RESULTS The CA and choroidal density (CD) were significantly reduced in the two neurodegenerative disease groups (higher in PD than in MS) versus the healthy subjects (p < 0.001); choroidal area was also significantly reduced in the MS group versus the healthy subjects. The COID increased significantly in the PD patients versus the MS patients and in the MS patients versus the healthy controls (p < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The SpS algorithm detected choroidal tissue boundary limits and differences optical density in MS and PD patients versus healthy controls. The application of the SpS algorithm to OCT images potentially acts as a non-invasive biomarker for the early diagnosis of MS and PD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sofia Otin
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain;
| | - Francisco J. Ávila
- Department of Applied Physics, University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain;
| | - Victor Mallen
- Department of Ophthalmology, Miguel Servet University Hospital, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; (V.M.); (E.G.-M.)
- Miguel Servet Ophthalmology Research Group (GIMSO), Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragon), University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Elena Garcia-Martin
- Department of Ophthalmology, Miguel Servet University Hospital, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain; (V.M.); (E.G.-M.)
- Miguel Servet Ophthalmology Research Group (GIMSO), Aragon Health Research Institute (IIS Aragon), University of Zaragoza, 50009 Zaragoza, Spain
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Burke J, Engelmann J, Hamid C, Reid-Schachter M, Pearson T, Pugh D, Dhaun N, Storkey A, King S, MacGillivray TJ, Bernabeu MO, MacCormick IJC. An Open-Source Deep Learning Algorithm for Efficient and Fully Automatic Analysis of the Choroid in Optical Coherence Tomography. Transl Vis Sci Technol 2023; 12:27. [PMID: 37988073 PMCID: PMC10668622 DOI: 10.1167/tvst.12.11.27] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/22/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 11/22/2023] Open
Abstract
Purpose To develop an open-source, fully automatic deep learning algorithm, DeepGPET, for choroid region segmentation in optical coherence tomography (OCT) data. Methods We used a dataset of 715 OCT B-scans (82 subjects, 115 eyes) from three clinical studies related to systemic disease. Ground-truth segmentations were generated using a clinically validated, semiautomatic choroid segmentation method, Gaussian Process Edge Tracing (GPET). We finetuned a U-Net with the MobileNetV3 backbone pretrained on ImageNet. Standard segmentation agreement metrics, as well as derived measures of choroidal thickness and area, were used to evaluate DeepGPET, alongside qualitative evaluation from a clinical ophthalmologist. Results DeepGPET achieved excellent agreement with GPET on data from three clinical studies (AUC = 0.9994, Dice = 0.9664; Pearson correlation = 0.8908 for choroidal thickness and 0.9082 for choroidal area), while reducing the mean processing time per image on a standard laptop CPU from 34.49 ± 15.09 seconds using GPET to 1.25 ± 0.10 seconds using DeepGPET. Both methods performed similarly according to a clinical ophthalmologist who qualitatively judged a subset of segmentations by GPET and DeepGPET, based on smoothness and accuracy of segmentations. Conclusions DeepGPET, a fully automatic, open-source algorithm for choroidal segmentation, will enable researchers to efficiently extract choroidal measurements, even for large datasets. As no manual interventions are required, DeepGPET is less subjective than semiautomatic methods and could be deployed in clinical practice without requiring a trained operator. Translational Relevance DeepGPET addresses the lack of open-source, fully automatic, and clinically relevant choroid segmentation algorithms, and its subsequent public release will facilitate future choroidal research in both ophthalmology and wider systemic health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jamie Burke
- School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Justin Engelmann
- School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Centre for Medical Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Charlene Hamid
- Clinical Research Facility and Imaging, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | | | - Tom Pearson
- University Hospital Wales, NHS Wales, Cardiff, Wales, UK
| | - Dan Pugh
- British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Neeraj Dhaun
- British Heart Foundation Centre for Cardiovascular Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Amos Storkey
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Stuart King
- School of Mathematics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Tom J. MacGillivray
- Clinical Research Facility and Imaging, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Centre for Clinical Brain Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Miguel O. Bernabeu
- Centre for Medical Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- The Bayes Centre, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - Ian J. C. MacCormick
- Institute for Adaptive and Neural Computation, School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
- Centre for Inflammation Research, The Queen's Medical Research Institute, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
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Choroidal structural analysis in ultra-high risk and first-episode psychosis. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol 2023; 70:72-80. [PMID: 36931136 DOI: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2023.02.016] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/03/2023] [Revised: 02/02/2023] [Accepted: 02/22/2023] [Indexed: 03/19/2023]
Abstract
Both structural and functional alterations in the retina and the choroid of the eye, as parts of the central nervous system, have been shown in psychotic disorders, especially in schizophrenia. In addition, genetic and imaging studies indicate vascular and angiogenesis anomalies in the psychosis spectrum disorders. In this ocular imaging study, choroidal structure and vascularity were investigated using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT) in first-episode psychosis (FEP), ultra-high risk for psychosis (UHR-P), and age- and gender- matched healthy controls (HCs). There were no significant differences between groups in central choroidal thickness, stromal choroidal area (SCA), luminal choroidal area (LCA) and total subfoveal choroidal area. The LCA/SCA ratio (p<0.001) and the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) (p<0.001) were significantly different between FEP, UHR-P and HCs. CVI and LCA/SCA ratio were significantly higher in patients with FEP compared to help-seeking youth at UHR-P. CVI and LCA/SCA ratio were not different between UHR-P and HCs. However, CVI was higher in UHR-P compared to HCs after excluding the outliers for the sensitivity analysis (p = 0.002). Current findings suggest that choroidal thickness is normal, but there are abnormalities in choroidal microvasculature in prodromal and first-episode psychosis. Further longitudinal studies are needed to investigate oculomics, especially CVI, as a promising biomarker for the prediction of conversion to psychosis in individuals at clinical high-risk.
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Evaluation of the choroidal vascular index and choroidal changes in migraine subgroups. Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther 2023; 42:103348. [PMID: 36806697 DOI: 10.1016/j.pdpdt.2023.103348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/17/2022] [Revised: 02/14/2023] [Accepted: 02/15/2023] [Indexed: 02/19/2023]
Abstract
PURPOSE To investigate binarized choroidal structural parameters, retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and retina changes duringattack-free periods in patients with migraine using enhanced depth imaging optic coherence tomography (EDI-OCT), and compare patients with migraine with aura and without aura (MwA and MoA, respectively) and aura subgroups (visual aura, non-visual aura), with age and sex-matched healthy subjects. METHOD This observational, prospective study included 102 patients with migraine and 36 healthy controls. Central macular thickness (CMT), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), ganglion cell layer (GCL), and choroidal thickness (CT) were measured using a Spectralis OCT device. The choroid vascularity index (CVI) was evaluated using the Image-J software. CVI was calculated as the proportion of the luminal area (LA) to the total choroidal area (TCA). RNFL, CMT, CT, and CVI measurements were compared statistically. RESULTS Choroidal thickness at 1500 µm temporal of the fovea was found to be statistically significantly thinner in the MwA and MoA groups compared with the control group (p ≤ 0.01). There was a significant difference in the subfoveal CT values of the MwA and control groups (p < 0.05). The mean RNFL thickness of patients with migraine with visual aura was found to be statistically significantly thinner than in the migraine group with non-visual aura (98.73 ± 8.4 and 109.4 ± 16.8) (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant differences between the RNFL CMT, GCC, and CVI values in the MwA, MoA, and control groups (p > 0.05). CONCLUSION We found that the choroidal thickness was significantly decreased in patients with migraine, especially in the MwA group. In the visual aura subgroup, the mean RNFL thickness was significantly decreased compared with the non-visual aura subgroup.
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Vij R, Arora S. A systematic survey of advances in retinal imaging modalities for Alzheimer's disease diagnosis. Metab Brain Dis 2022; 37:2213-2243. [PMID: 35290546 DOI: 10.1007/s11011-022-00927-4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Accepted: 02/04/2022] [Indexed: 01/06/2023]
Abstract
Recent advances in retinal imaging pathophysiology have shown a new function for biomarkers in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis and prognosis. The significant improvements in Optical coherence tomography (OCT) retinal imaging have led to significant clinical translation, particularly in Alzheimer's disease detection. This systematic review will provide a comprehensive overview of retinal imaging in clinical applications, with a special focus on biomarker analysis for use in Alzheimer's disease detection. Articles on OCT retinal imaging in Alzheimer's disease diagnosis were identified in PubMed, Google Scholar, IEEE Xplore, and Research Gate databases until March 2021. Those studies using simultaneous retinal imaging acquisition were chosen, while those using sequential techniques were rejected. "Alzheimer's disease" and "Dementia" were searched alone and in combination with "OCT" and "retinal imaging". Approximately 1000 publications were searched, and after deleting duplicate articles, 145 relevant studies focused on the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease utilizing retinal imaging were chosen for study. OCT has recently been demonstrated to be a valuable technique in clinical practice as according to this survey, 57% of the researchers employed optical coherence tomography, 19% used ocular fundus imaging, 13% used scanning laser ophthalmoscopy, and 11% have used multimodal imaging to diagnose Alzheimer disease. Retinal imaging has become an important diagnostic technique for Alzheimer's disease. Given the scarcity of available literature, it is clear that future prospective trials involving larger and more homogeneous groups are necessary, and the work can be expanded by evaluating its significance utilizing a machine-learning platform rather than simply using statistical methodologies.
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Affiliation(s)
- Richa Vij
- School of Computer Science & Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, 182320, India
| | - Sakshi Arora
- School of Computer Science & Engineering, Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Katra, Jammu and Kashmir, 182320, India.
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Jeevakumar V, Sefton R, Chan J, Gopinath B, Liew G, Shah TM, Siette J. Association between retinal markers and cognition in older adults: a systematic review. BMJ Open 2022; 12:e054657. [PMID: 35728906 PMCID: PMC9214387 DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2021-054657] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
OBJECTIVES To appraise the existing literature reporting an association between retinal markers and cognitive impairment in adults aged 65 years and over and to provide directions for future use of retinal scanning as a potential tool for dementia diagnosis. DESIGN Systematic review of peer-reviewed empirical articles investigating the association of retinal markers in assessing cognitive impairment. DATA SOURCES Three electronic databases, Medline, PsycINFO and EMBASE were searched from inception until March 2022. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA All empirical articles in English investigating the association between retinal markers and cognition in humans aged ≥65 years using various retinal scanning methodologies were included. Studies with no explicit evaluation of retinal scanning and cognitive outcomes were excluded. Risk of bias was assessed using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS Data extraction was conducted by two authors (VJ, RS) and reviewed by another author (JS). Results were synthesised and described narratively. RESULTS Sixty-seven eligible studies examining 6815 older adults were included. Majority of studies were cross-sectional (n=60; 89.6%). Optical coherence tomography (OCT) was the most commonly used retinal scanning methodology to measure the thickness of retinal nerve fibre layer, the ganglion cell complex, choroid and macula. 51.1% of cross-sectional studies using OCT reported an association between the thinning of at least one retinal parameter and poor cognition. Longitudinal studies (n=6) using OCT also mostly identified significant reductions in retinal nerve fibre layer thickness with cognitive decline. Study quality was overall moderate. CONCLUSION Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness is linked with cognitive performance and therefore may have the potential to detect cognitive impairment in older adults. Further longitudinal studies are required to validate our synthesis and understand underlying mechanisms before recommending implementation of OCT as a dementia screening tool in clinical practice. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER CRD42020176757.
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Affiliation(s)
- Varshanie Jeevakumar
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Rebekah Sefton
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Joyce Chan
- New Look Eyewear, Maitland, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Bamini Gopinath
- Department of Linguistics, Australian Hearing Hub, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Gerald Liew
- Centre for Vision Research, The University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Tejal M Shah
- Macquarie Medical School, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
| | - Joyce Siette
- Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University, Macquarie Park, New South Wales, Australia
- MARCS Institute for Brain, Behaviour and Development, Western Sydney University, Westmead, New South Wales, Australia
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Ma JP, Robbins CB, Lee JM, Soundararajan S, Stinnett SS, Agrawal R, Plassman BL, Lad EM, Whitson H, Grewal DS, Fekrat S. Longitudinal analysis of the retina and choroid in cognitively normal individuals at higher genetic risk for Alzheimer disease. Ophthalmol Retina 2022; 6:607-619. [PMID: 35283324 DOI: 10.1016/j.oret.2022.03.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 02/18/2022] [Accepted: 03/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To assess baseline differences and longitudinal rate of change in retinal and choroidal imaging parameters between APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers with normal cognition. DESIGN Prospective study. SUBJECTS 413 eyes of 218 individuals with normal cognition aged ≥55 years with known APOE status (98 ε4 carriers, 120 non-carriers). Exclusion criteria included diabetes mellitus, uncontrolled hypertension, glaucoma, and vitreoretinal or neurodegenerative disease. METHODS Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) was performed at baseline and at 2 years [Zeiss Cirrus HD-OCT 5000 with AngioPlex (Zeiss Meditec, Dublin, CA)]. Groups were compared using sex- and age-adjusted generalized estimating equations. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES OCT: retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, macular ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer thickness, central subfield thickness (CST), choroidal vascularity index. OCTA: foveal avascular zone area, perfusion density (PD), vessel density, peripapillary capillary perfusion density and capillary flux index (CFI). Rate of change per year was calculated. RESULTS At baseline, ε4 carriers demonstrated decreased CST (p=0.018), PD in the 6mm Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) circle (p=0.049), and temporal CFI (p=0.047). Seventy-one ε4 carriers and 78 non-carriers returned at 2 years; at follow-up, the 6mm ETDRS circle (p=0.05) and outer ring (p=0.049) showed decreased PD in ε4 carriers, with no differences in rates of change between groups (all p>0.05). CONCLUSIONS There were measured differences in CST, PD, and peripapillary CFI between APOE ε4 carriers and non-carriers with normal cognition. Larger and longer-term studies may further elucidate the potential prognostic value of these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin P Ma
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Cason B Robbins
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Jia Min Lee
- National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Srinath Soundararajan
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Sandra S Stinnett
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Rupesh Agrawal
- National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore; Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore; Singapore Eye Research Institute, Singapore; Duke NUS Medical School, Singapore
| | - Brenda L Plassman
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Eleonora M Lad
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Heather Whitson
- Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Dilraj S Grewal
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Sharon Fekrat
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA; Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA.
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Amy Y, Lee CS. Retinal Biomarkers for Alzheimer Disease: The Facts and the Future. Asia Pac J Ophthalmol (Phila) 2022; 11:140-148. [PMID: 35533333 PMCID: PMC9889204 DOI: 10.1097/apo.0000000000000505] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/06/2023] Open
Abstract
ABSTRACT Alzheimer disease (AD) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, with limited treatment options and considerable diagnostic challenges. Identification and validation of retinal changes that correlate with clinicopathologic features of AD could provide a noninvasive method of screening and monitoring progression of disease, with notable implications for developing new therapies, particularly in its preclinical stages. Retinal biomarkers that have been studied to date include structural changes in neurosensory retinal layers, alterations in vascular architecture and function, and pathologic deposition of proteins within the retina, which have all demonstrated variable correlation with the presence of preclinical or clinical AD. Evolution of specialized retinal imaging modalities and advances in artificial intelligence hold great promise for future study in this burgeoning field. The current status of research in retinal biomarkers, and some of the challenges that will need to be addressed in future work, are reviewed herein.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yuan Amy
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle WA, US
| | - Cecilia S. Lee
- Department of Ophthalmology, University of Washington, Seattle WA, US
- Karalis Johnson Retina Center, Seattle WA, US
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12
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Mirzania D, Thompson AC, Robbins CB, Soundararajan S, Lee JM, Agrawal R, Liu AJ, Johnson KG, Grewal DS, Fekrat S. Retinal and Choroidal Changes in Men Compared with Women with Alzheimer’s Disease. OPHTHALMOLOGY SCIENCE 2022; 2:100098. [PMID: 36246183 PMCID: PMC9559893 DOI: 10.1016/j.xops.2021.100098] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/05/2021] [Revised: 12/14/2021] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
Purpose To evaluate differences in the retinal microvasculature and structure and choroidal structure among men and women with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) compared with age-matched cognitively normal male and female controls. Design Case-control study of participants ≥ 50 years of age. Participants A total of 202 eyes of 139 subjects (101 cases and 101 controls). Methods All participants and controls underwent OCT and OCT angiography (OCTA), and parameters of subjects with AD were compared with those of cognitively normal controls. Main Outcome Measures The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, vessel density (VD), and perfusion density (PD) in the superficial capillary plexus within the 3- and 6-mm circle and ring using Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid overlay on OCTA; central subfield thickness (CST), retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL) thickness, and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) on OCT. Results No significant sex differences in VD or PD were found in the AD or control cohorts; however, there were greater differences in VD and PD among AD female participants than AD male participants compared with their respective controls. The CST and FAZ area were not different between male and female AD participants. Among controls, men had a thicker CST (P < 0.001) and smaller FAZ area (P = 0.003) compared with women. The RNFL thickness, GCIPL thickness, and CVI were similar among male and female AD participants and controls. Conclusions There may be a loss of the physiologic sex-related differences in retinal structure and microvasculature in those with AD compared with controls. Further studies are needed to elucidate the pathophysiological basis for these findings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Delaram Mirzania
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Atalie C. Thompson
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Cason B. Robbins
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Srinath Soundararajan
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Jia Min Lee
- National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Rupesh Agrawal
- National Healthcare Group Eye Institute, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Andy J. Liu
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Neurology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Kim G. Johnson
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Neurology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Dilraj S. Grewal
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina
| | - Sharon Fekrat
- iMIND Research Group, Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina
- Duke Department of Ophthalmology, Durham, North Carolina
- Correspondence: Sharon Fekrat, MD, Duke University Department of Ophthalmology, 2351 Erwin Road, Box 3802, Durham, NC 27710. .
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13
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Choroidal vascularity index and retinal nerve fiber layer reflectivity in newly diagnosed migraine patients. Photodiagnosis Photodyn Ther 2021; 36:102531. [PMID: 34520878 DOI: 10.1016/j.pdpdt.2021.102531] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/26/2021] [Revised: 09/07/2021] [Accepted: 09/08/2021] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
Abstract
PURPOSE To evaluate the choroidal structural parameters, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and optic density index (ODI) and their correlations in patients with migraine. METHODS Twenty-eight newly diagnosed migraine patients and 28 age-matched healthy controls were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. The enhanced depth-optical coherence tomography images were evaluated. The choroidal area (CA) was binarized to the luminal area (LA) and stromal area (SA) using Image J. The choroidal vascularity index (CVI), the mean peripapillary RNFL thickness, superior-inferior-nasal-temporal quadrant RNFL thicknesses, and the ODI were compared statistically. RESULTS The difference in the mean CVI between the patient group and controls reached a statistical significance (p=0.035). The mean RNFL thickness was significantly decreased in patients with migraine compared with the controls (p=0.040). The mean RNFL thickness in the superior, temporal, and inferior quadrants was significantly decreased in the patient group in comparison to the control subjects (p=0.030, p=0.001, and p=0.022, respectively). There were no significant differences between the migraine group and the controls for the mean ODI of RNFL (p=0.399). CONCLUSION The CVI and the RNFL thickness except for the nasal quadrant were significantly decreased in newly diagnosed migraine patients.
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Chalkias IN, Tegos T, Topouzis F, Tsolaki M. Ocular biomarkers and their role in the early diagnosis of neurocognitive disorders. Eur J Ophthalmol 2021; 31:2808-2817. [PMID: 34000876 DOI: 10.1177/11206721211016311] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/30/2022]
Abstract
Given the fact that different types of dementia can be diagnosed only postmortem or when the disease has progressed enough to cause irreversible damage to certain brain areas, there has been an increasing need for the development of sensitive and reliable methods that can detect early preclinical forms of dementia, before the symptoms have even appeared. Ideally, such a method would have the following characteristics: to be inexpensive, sensitive and specific, Non-invasive, fast and easily accessible. The ophthalmologic examination and especially the study of the retina, has caught the attention of many researchers, as it can provide a lot of information about the CNS and it fulfills many of the aforementioned criteria. Since the introduction of the non-invasive optical coherence tomography (OCT) and the newly developed modality OCT-angiography (OCT-A) that can demonstrate the structure and the microvasculature of the retina and choroid, respectively, there have been promising results regarding the value of the ophthalmologic examination in the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. In this review paper, we summarize and discuss the ocular findings in patients with cognitive impairment disorders and we highlight the importance of the ophthalmologic examination to the diagnosis of these disorders.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ioannis-Nikolaos Chalkias
- 1st Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Makedonia Thraki, Greece
| | - Thomas Tegos
- 1st Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Makedonia Thraki, Greece
| | - Fotis Topouzis
- 1st Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Makedonia Thraki, Greece
| | - Magda Tsolaki
- 1st Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Makedonia Thraki, Greece.,Greek Association of Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders, Thessaloniki, Greece
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Gioia M, De Bernardo M, Rosa N, Capasso L. Comment on: Choroidal Structural Analysis in Alzheimer Disease, Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Cognitively Healthy Controls. Am J Ophthalmol 2021; 225:207-208. [PMID: 33444634 DOI: 10.1016/j.ajo.2020.11.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/13/2020] [Accepted: 11/23/2020] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
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16
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Song A, Johnson N, Ayala A, Thompson AC. Optical Coherence Tomography in Patients with Alzheimer's Disease: What Can It Tell Us? Eye Brain 2021; 13:1-20. [PMID: 33447120 PMCID: PMC7802785 DOI: 10.2147/eb.s235238] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/27/2020] [Accepted: 12/09/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
PURPOSE Although Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a leading cause of dementia worldwide, its clinical diagnosis remains a challenge. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT with angiography (OCTA) are non-invasive ophthalmic imaging tools with the potential to detect retinal structural and microvascular changes in patients with AD, which may serve as biomarkers for the disease. In this systematic review, we evaluate whether certain OCT and OCTA parameters are significantly associated with AD and mild cognitive impairment (MCI). METHODS PubMed database was searched using a combination of MeSH terms to identify studies for review. Studies were organized by participant diagnostic groups, type of imaging modality, and OCT/OCTA parameters of interest. Participant demographic data was also collected and baseline descriptive statistics were calculated for the included studies. RESULTS Seventy-one studies were included for review, representing a total of 6757 patients (2350 AD, 793 MCI, 2902 healthy controls (HC), and 841 others with a range of other neurodegenerative diagnoses). The mean baseline ages were 72.78±3.69, 71.52±2.88, 70.55±3.85 years for AD, MCI and HC groups, respectively. The majority of studies noted significant structural and functional decline in AD patients when compared to HC. Although analysis of MCI groups yielded more mixed results, a similar pattern of decline was often noted amongst patients with MCI relative to HC. OCT and OCTA measurements were also shown to correlate with established measures of AD such as neuropsychological testing or neuroimaging. CONCLUSION OCT and OCTA show great potential as non-invasive technologies for the diagnosis of AD. However, further research is needed to determine whether there are AD-specific patterns of structural or microvascular change in the retina and optic nerve that distinguish AD from other neurodegenerative diseases. Development of sensitive and specific OCT/OCTA parameters will be necessary before they can be used to detect AD in clinical settings.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ailin Song
- Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, NC, USA
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