Novel Application of Conjunctival Anterior Segment Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography to Assess Ocular Redness

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to determine anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography (AS-OCTA) parameters to assess ocular redness severity. Methods: AS-OCTA analyses of 60 eyes of 40 patients were grouped according to ocular redness stages using the 5-category validated bulbar redness scale in a cross-sectional retrospective study (groups 1–5). A subset of patients with slit-lamp photographs, total 35 eyes of 23 patients, were assessed with 10-category validated bulbar redness scale for comparison. AS-OCTA images of nasal and temporal bulbar conjunctiva were analyzed. Vessel density (VD) represented the blood flow pixels by the total pixels of image (%); vessel diameter index represented the VD by the skeletonized density; fractal dimension, measured with the box-count method, represented the vessel branching complexity. Averaged nasal and temporal parameters for each eye were correlated to validated bulbar redness scales. Results: There was no statistical difference between groups for age (P = 0.118), sex (P = 0.501), eye laterality (OD/OS; P = 0.111), or location (nasal/temporal; P = 0.932). In the 5-category scale, VD significantly increased from group 1 to 2 (31.5 ± 1.9% and 33.4 ± 2.2%, P = 0.023), 2 to 3 (36.0 ± 3.5%, P < 0.001), and 4 to 5 (40.2 ± 2.9 and 46.5 ± 2.8, P < 0.001). The correlations were 0.805 (P < 0.001) and 0.893 (P < 0.001) for the 5-category and 10-category scales, respectively. Vessel diameter index showed a significant increase from 1 to 2 (2.90 ± 0.17 and 3.00 ± 0.15; P = 0.004) and 4 to 5 (2.92 ± 0.31 and 3.33 ± 0.08; P = 0.001). The correlations were 0.550 (P < 0.001) and 0.625 (P < 0.001) for the respective scales. The fractal dimension showed no significant differences between subsequent groups. The correlations were 0.445 (P < 0.001) and 0.583 (P < 0.001), respectively. Conclusions: Conjunctival AS-OCTA VD was the most reliable parameter to assess ocular redness.