Association of the choroidal vascularity index with myopic traction maculopathy: A preliminary case-series report

Abstract

The choroidal vascularity index (CVI) is derived from the novel technique of assessing the choroidal vasculature by quantifying vascular flow using optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. Several retinal and choroidal diseases have been characterized using this index. However, no study has established the association of CVI with myopic traction maculopathy (MTM). This study aimed to investigate the association of CVI with different stages of surgically resolved MTM. We performed a consecutive, interventional, one-surgeon, and case-series study of 6 eyes of six patients enrolled between April 2017 and June 2022. One normal emmetropic eye (emmetropic control), one healthy myopic vision (healthy myopic control), and four surgically resolved myopic eyes at different stages of MTM (surgery group) were evaluated using OCT. The OCT images were binarized, and the total choroidal area (TCA, mm2), vascular luminal area (LA, mm2), and choroidal stromal area (SCA, mm2) were quantified using ImageJ software. The CVI (%) was calculated as the ratio of LA to TCA. The primary outcome measure was the association of the CVI with the best-corrected visual acuity in either of the study eyes. The baseline patient characteristics were similar (P > 0.05), except for visual acuity, which was better in the control eyes (P < 0.05). The CVI was 68.2% in the emmetropic control eye and 61.5% in the healthy myopic vision, whereas the mean CVI in the surgical group was 47.8% (40.9–53.3, min to max) (P = 0.07).