Evaluation of the Macular and Choroidal Perfusion in Healthy Turkish Population Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Purpose: To investigate the effect of age- and sex-related differences on macular and choroidal perfusion in healthy Turkish individuals by optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods: Two hundred-eight eyes of 116 healthy Turkish individuals (60 females and 56 males, mean age 40.35 ± 12.64 years) were included in this study. OCTA was performed on a 3 × 3-mm region on the macula. The superficial macula wholeimage vessel density (wiVD), foveal VD and parafoveal VD vessel density, foveal avascular zone (FAZ) as well as choriocapillaris flow index (CFI) were quantified. Results: The mean vessel density was 53.1% ± 2.8% in superficial macula wiVD, 31.7% ± 6.9% in superficial foveal VD and 55.2% ± 3.4% in superficial parafoveal VD for 3 × 3-mm OCTA images. Analysis of 3 × 3-mm scan has revealed a mean value of FAZ area was 0.313 ± 0.112 mm2. The mean CFI for 3 × 3-mm scan was 1.937 ± 0.059. A significant decrease was observed in the mean values of wiVD, parafoveal VD and CFI with age (p < 0.001, p = 0.001, and p < 0.001, respectively), with average yearly reductions of 0.3%, 0.4% and 0.4%, respectively. However, there was no correlation between age and foveal VD (p > 0.05). The FAZ area has shown an age-dependent annual increment, showing an average of 1.26%. The parafoveal VD and FAZ area were significantly higher in females than males (p = 0.027 and p = 0.015, respectively) while other parameters seemed similar (p > 0.05 for all). Conclusions: Our results suggest that age- and sex-related variations were effective on macular and choroidal perfusion. These normative values obtained using OCTA may be clinically useful to the evaluation of retinal and choroidal disorders.