Retinal and Choroidal Microvascular Changes During Pregnancy Periods Detected with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography: A prospective study

Abstract

Abstract Purpose: To investigate choroidal and retinal blood flow and thickness changes using Optic Coherence Tomography (OCT) and OCT Angiography (OCTA) during pregnancy. Methods: This prospective study included 41 eyes of 41 pregnant and 45 eyes of 45 healthy nonpregnant women. Ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), Retinal thickness (RT), choroidal thickness (CT), foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area, superficial and deep capillary plexus (SCP, DCP) vessel density(VD), choriocapillaris VD measurements were evaluated with OCT and OCTA.Results: There was no significant difference in OPP, RT, and CT during pregnancy. FAZ area increased as the gestational weeks progressed (p:0.011). The FAZ area of the first trimester was significantly lower than the control group (p:0,029). A decrease in central SCP and DCP VD in the third trimester and an increase in the choriocapillaris VD during pregnancy were detected (p:0.01, p<0.001, p<0.001 respectively). We observed an increase in mean VD for both SCP and DCP in the second trimester (p:0.02, p:0.027). In the second and third trimesters, SCP and DCP VD values werefound to be significantly higher than the control group. During the pregnancy period a significant increase was detected in choriocapillaris VD when compared to the first trimester.Conclusion: In conclusionthis is the first prospective study in the literaturethatevaluates the measurements in all trimesters of pregnancy with OCTA. We observedsignificant retinal and choroidal microvascular changes between trimesters of pregnancy and when compared with healthy women.Clinicaltrials.gov registration ID: NCT04950855 11/01/2021