Macular vascular density in diabetic patients with diabetic kidney disease

Objective To observe the macular vascular density (MVD) in diabetic patients with diabetic kidney disease (DKD) with optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Methods We analyzed 62 eyes of 31 diabetic patients with DKD (DKD group), 68 eyes of 34 diabetic patients without DKD (non-DKD group), and 62 eyes of 31 healthy controls. All the subjects underwent 4.5 mm×4.5 mm scanning of macular by OCTA to obtain the 4 levels of the macular density map. The 3 layers of MVD, including the superficial capillary plexus (SCP), the deep capillary plexus (DCP), and the choriocapillaris (CC), were observed. Results In the DKD group, 46 eyes (74.2%) got diabetic retinopathy (DR) , and 16 eyes (27.4%) proliferative DR (PDR) . In non-DKD group, 28 eyes (41.2%) got DR, and 7 eyes (10.3%) PDR. No DR occurred in the control group. The incidences of DR and PDR in the 3 groups were statistically different with each other (all P 0.05). Conclusion There is a close correlation between DKD and DR. OCTA can be considered in DR screening, indicating that MDV in DKD patients decreases significantly. Key words: Diabetic kidney disease; Diabetic retinopathy; Optical coherence tomography angiography; Macular vascular density