Abstract
Purpose
Retinal ischemia is a pathophysiologic feature of sickle cell retinopathy. Inner retinal thinning of retina temporal to the fovea has been reported on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) even though clinical examination is normal and fluorescein angiography (FA) does not show any capillary dropout. In a patient with sickle cell disease with temporal inner retinal thinning on SD-OCT and normal FA, the new technology of OCT angiography (OCTA) showed a corresponding area of nonperfusion.
Methods
The patient with sickle cell disease underwent visual acuity testing, refraction, slit-lamp biomicroscopy, and dilated fundus examination. The patient also underwent SD-OCT, digital FA, and OCTA. The findings are described in this case report.
Results
In this patient with sickle cell disease, although clinical examination was normal and FA did not show any capillary dropout, the SD-OCT showed inner retinal thinning temporal to the fovea. Corresponding to this area, OCTA showed an area of nonperfusion.
Conclusions
Optical coherence tomography angiography technology may be more sensitive than the gold standard FA in identifying retinal ischemia in patients with sickle cell disease.
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