Correlation between macular blood flow density and stage of diabetic retinopathy

Objective:To investigate the association between the development of diabetic retinopathy and OCTA blood flow density.Methods:A total of 63 patients(100 eyes)diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in Eye Hospital of China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences from September 2020 to July 2021 were selected,including 44 patients(72 eyes)with diabetic retinopathy and 19 patients(28 eyes)with type 2 diabetes without retinopathy(NDR).All patients underwent OCTA examination,and FAZ,PERIM,AI,FD,SVD,DVD and other indicators were counted.Results:(1)SVD,parafoveal SVD,DVD and parafoveal DVD gradually decreased with the progression of DR(P=0.000).There was no significant difference in SVD and DVD fovea(P>0.05).(2)The correlation coefficients between SVD,SVD,DVD,DVD and DR process were-0.525,-0.586,-0.323,-0.424,respectively(P<0.05),and all showed moderate negative correlation.(3)AI and FD gradually decreased with the progression of DR,and the differences were statistically significant(P=0.011,P=0.000),while FAZ and PERIM showed no significant difference with the progression of DR(P>0.05).(4)The correlation coefficients of FAZ,PERIM and DR progression were:-0.031,0.084(P>0.05),no correlation,AI,FD and DR process correlation coefficient were 0.307,-0.459(P<0.05),respectively,were moderately positive and negative correlation;(5)The correlation coefficients of FAZ,PERIM,AI,FD and age were-0.124,-0.052,0.113,-0.170(P>0.05),respectively.Conclusion:There is a moderate correlation between the progression of DR and the superficial and deep blood flow density of OCTA.It was moderately correlated with AI and FD.OCTA can assist in the assessment of DR disease progression.