Investigation of Retinal Vascular Changes during Pregnancy Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate retinal vascular changes in pregnant women using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Materials and Methods: This prospective, cross-sectional study included 97 pregnant women and age-matched 34 healthy control subjects. The OCTA parameters of one eye (left) of pregnancy group and control group were compared. Besides, the OCTA parameters of three trimesters were compared between themselves and the control group. The foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and the vessel density percentages of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and radial peripapillary capillary (RPC) of all the groups were evaluated by OCTA. Results: In the pregnancy group, the vessel density of DCP was higher in all regions than the control group except the foveal region, but this difference could not reach statistical significance. On the other hand, the vessel density of SCP in the pregnancy group did not show a manifest change in all regions except the foveal region as in DCP. Although the FAZ area was wider in pregnancy group, this difference was not statistically significant (p:0.661). There was no statistically significant difference observed in vessel density of SCP, DCP, and RPC between the different trimesters and the control group, and none of these data correlated with the gestational week. Conclusion: This study showed retinal vascular changes secondary to pregnancy, especially in the vessel density of DCP. These results can provide information that should be taken into account in the evaluation and investigation of pregnancy-specific retinal vascular pathologies.