Adaptive Optics Ophthalmoscopy in Diabetic Retinopathy

Abstract Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of visual loss and blindness in working-age adults and represents the most common microvascular complication of diabetes mellitus. The current research assesses the retinal arterioles status in healthy volunteers and diabetic patients, in order to detect early retinal changes by using adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy (AOO), a cutting edge, noninvasive imaging technique. Our patients were evaluated between 2021-2022 in the Retina Clinic Bucharest, Romania. All of them underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination. By using rtx1™ adaptive optics retinal camera (Imagine Eyes, Orsay, France) together with the manufacturer’s software (AO detect artery, Imagine Eyes, France), several vascular parameters of the retinal arteriole were calculated, including wall to lumen ratio (WLR), vessel diameter (VD), lumen diameter (LD), mean wall thickness (WT) and cross-sectional area of the vascular wall (WCSA). All five studied vascular parameters were found to have higher values in diabetic patients, when compared to healthy volunteers. The differences were statistically significant for WT, WLR and WCSA (p values under 0.05). Adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy represents a cutting-edge technique, opening a new era in the medical retina field. It provides useful data regarding the retinal vascular status, in a non-invasive manner, being a promising tool in the diagnosis, staging and follow-up of diabetic retinal disease.