Optical Coherence Tomography-Angiography in Pediatric Ophthalmological Practice (Review)

Abstract

Data from sources of domestic and foreign literature for 2016–2019 is presented in the review of literature. This data concerned of applying the method of optical coherent tomography-angiography in pediatric ophthalmic practice. OCT-A is a non-invasive research method, without the use of fluorescent dyes. The procedure is performed relatively quickly, with the possibility of additional repetition. The method allows to conduct visualization of the vascular network of the retina layer-by-layer, perform its quantitative analysis: to evaluate the density of the microvascular bed and measure the area of non-perfusion zones. Having appeared as a result of a qualitative modernization of OCT, a new method of visualization of vessels OCT-A is actively used in the diagnosis of pathologies such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, post-thrombotic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, central serous chorioretinopathy, etc. In present time OCT-A being performed in adult medicine, it is actively used in various areas of pediatric ophthalmology. Presently, pediatric patients with diabetes mellitus, sickle cell anemia, amblyopia, retinal artery occlusion, and coats disease have been performed with OCT-A studies. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is required a special attention among children’s eye diseases. However, mentioning about OCT angiographic studies in patients with ROP are quite rare in the literature. Nevertheless, the available data indicate the enormous diagnostic potential of OCT-A in this severe vasoproliferative disease. The method give possibility for fully control the pathological process, to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment and timely prevent the development of severe stages of ROP. Due to the information and diagnostic potential, it is necessary to continue research on the possibilities of the OCT-A method in the diagnosis, analysis of treatment results and prediction of ROP.