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Comparison of retinochoroidal microvascular circulation in menstrual and postmenopausal periods using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography

  • Retinal Disorders
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Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to examine the possible effects of the postmenopausal period on retinal and choroidal microvascular circulation using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA).

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 45 eyes of 45 subjects in menstrual group and 40 eyes of 40 subjects in postmenopausal group. SS-OCTA was used for the assessment of vessel density (VD), foveal avascular zone (FAZ), choroidal thickness (CT), choriocapillaris VD, central macular thickness (CMT), nerve fiber layer thickness (RNFL), and ganglion cell layer (GCL) measurements.

Result

The VDs of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) measurements were similar in both group. FAZ area was wider in postmenopausal group (0.305 mm2 (range, 0.212–0.498 mm2)) compared to menstrual group (0.271 mm2 (range, 0.131–0.464 mm2)) (p = 0.013). Choriocapillaris VD was significantly lower in postmenopausal group (p = 0.049). CT was thicker in the postmenopausal group, but with no statistically significant difference (p = 0.066). Central macular thickness, RNFL, and GCL were similar in both groups.

Conclusion

This is the first study in the literature to evaluate the retinochoroidal microcirculation in the menstrual and postmenopausal periods with SS-OCTA. We observed an increase in both superficial and deep FAZ area and a decrease in choroidal blood flow in the postmenopausal period. We think that this enlargement in the FAZ area may be related to the decreased amount of estrogen.

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Data availability

All data and materials are available from the supplementary material.

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Funding

The authors received no funding for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article from any government or private institution.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine, PınarbaşıMah. AkdenizÜniversitesi Tıp FakültesiHastanesi, 07070, Konyaaltı/Antalya, Turkey

    Aslı Çetinkaya Yaprak

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Manavgat State Hospital, Antalya, Turkey

    Çisil Erkan Pota

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  1. Aslı Çetinkaya Yaprak
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Correspondence to Aslı Çetinkaya Yaprak.

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Ethical approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the Akdeniz University Faculty of Medicine (Approval Number: KAEK-973). All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent for publication of their clinical details and/or clinical images was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. A copy of the consent form is available for review by the editor of this journal.

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Çetinkaya Yaprak, A., Erkan Pota, Ç. Comparison of retinochoroidal microvascular circulation in menstrual and postmenopausal periods using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 261, 367–373 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-022-05807-2

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