Retinal and choroidal vascular changes in coronary heart disease: an optical coherence tomography angiography study

To reveal the association between retinal microvasculature changes and coronary heart disease (CHD), we assessed the full retinal thicknesses of eight areas, the vessel density of four layers (consisting of nine areas) and the flow area in two layers with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in CHD patients and healthy controls. The mean vessel density of several layers was significantly lower in patients. The difference in choroid capillary flow (negative correlation) between the two groups was significant. Decreased vessel density and blood flow were associated with coronary artery and branch stenosis. The decreases in retinal vessel density, choroidal vessel density, and blood flow area are closely related to coronary artery and branch stenosis. (C) 2019 Optical Society of America under the terms of the OSA Open Access Publishing Agreement