Quantitative analysis of fundus microcirculation metrics of healthy residents from high-altitude areas
10.13389/j.cnki.rao.2025.0083
- VernacularTitle:高海拔地区健康人群眼底微循环参数的量化分析
- Author:
Jinlan MA
1
;
Li CHEN
;
Qi XU
;
Yiqing LUO
;
Ping YU
Author Information
1. 810000 青海省西宁市,青海大学附属医院眼科
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
high altitude;
optical coherence tomography angiography;
retinal vessel density;
choroidal vascularity in-dex;
ganglion cell complex layer
- From:
Recent Advances in Ophthalmology
2025;45(6):476-480,485
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To quantitatively analyze the effect of long-term ultrahigh-altitude and mid-high-altitude expo-sure on fundus microcirculation.Methods In the cross-sectional study,healthy residents from ultrahigh-altitude areas(＞3 500-5 500 m)and those from mid-high-altitude areas(＞1 500-3 500 m)were included as subjects.Meanwhile,healthy residents from plain areas were included as the control group.All subjects underwent optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA)and spectral domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT)scans.Fundus images were quantified using ImageJ,and fundus microcirculation metrics were calculated and compared among these groups.Retinal microcircu-lation metrics included retinal vessel density(RVD),retinal skeleton density(RSD),fractal dimension(FD),foveal avas-cular zone(FAZ)area,and ganglion cell complex(GCC)thickness.Choroidal microcirculation metrics included subfoveal choroidal thickness(SFCT),luminal area(LA),total choroidal area(TCA),and choroidal vascularity index(CVI).Results In the ultra-high altitude group,the RVD was(32.52±3.57)％,the RSD was(15.05±4.24)％,and the FD was 1.68±0.08,all of which were significantly lower compared with the control group(all P＜0.001).The average thick-ness of GCC in the ultrahigh-altitude group was(98.76±10.26)μm,which was significantly thinner than the average thickness of GCC in the control group(P＜0.001).The TCA in the ultrahigh-altitude group was(2.15±0.49)mm2,the LA was(1.17±0.36)mm2,and the SFCT was(318.12±76.50)μm,all of which were significantly higher compared with the control group(all P＜0.001).However,the CVI was significantly decreased in the ultrahigh-altitude group compared with the control group(P＜0.001).There were no significant differences in fundus microcirculation metrics between the mid-high-altitude group and the control group(all P＞0.05).Conclusion Long-term ultrahigh-altitude exposure may induce ischemia and hypoxia in the fundus,primarily characterized by a decrease in the retinal and choroidal blood flow density,whereas long-term mid-high-altitude exposure cannot cause changes in the fundus microcirculation.
