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A case-control study of peripapillary microvascular structure by OCT-angiography in non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy at early and resolutive stages

Eye volume 39, pages 771–778 (2025)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Objectives

To analyse peripapillary and papillary superficial microvascularization using OCT-angiography (OCT-A) in patients with non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION) at the acute and resolutive stages.

Methods

This retrospective case-control study conducted between October 2018 and November 2019 included 23 NAION subjects at the acute stage (onset <1 month) and 20 patients at the resolutive stage (onset >3 months). NAION and contralateral eyes were compared to control eyes of patients (n = 50) matched 1:1 for refractive error, sex, age, systemic hypertension, diabetes, and sleep apnoea syndrome. The acquisition of OCT-A (OCTA-SD Cirrus 5000, Carl Zeiss) in 6 × 6 mm format centred on the papilla allowed measurement of the radial peripapillary plexus. A commercialized algorithm was used to obtain maps of density and microvascular retinal and papillary retinal perfusion, by positioning an ETDRS grid centred on the optic nerve head.

Results

There was significant decrease in peripapillary density and microvascular perfusion values for NAION eyes both at the acute and resolutive stages compared to the contralateral and control eyes, mainly in the temporal sectors. Papillary vascular density and perfusion were significantly increased in NAION and contralateral eyes compared to control eyes. There was no significant difference in peripapillary density or peripapillary vascular perfusion between contralateral and control eyes.

Conclusion

Eyes in the acute and resolutive phases of NAION exhibit decreased microvascular density and peripapillary capillary perfusion. Increased papillary vascular density and perfusion seem to be an intrinsic characteristic of the optic nerves of both eyes in patients who develop NAION.

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Fig. 1: Flow chart of the population of NAION patients and controls.

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Data availability

Data are available upon request to Christophe Chiquet (cchiquet@chu-grenoble.fr).

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Acknowledgements

We thank Alison Foote (a medical writer based in Grenoble France) for editing our manuscript.

Funding

We thank the Association for Research and Teaching in Ophthalmology (ARFO, Grenoble, France) for a research grant.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Grenoble-Alpes, Grenoble, France

    Jean Castelain, Khaled Romdhane, Florent Aptel, Frederic Pollet-Villard, Oualid Attoui & Christophe Chiquet

  2. Grenoble-Alpes University, HP2 Laboratory, INSERM U1300, Grenoble, France

    Sébastien Bailly, Pepin Jean-Louis & Christophe Chiquet

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  1. Jean Castelain
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  2. Khaled Romdhane
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Contributions

CC conceived the study, obtained funding, designed and coordinated the study with the assistance of JLP. JC, KR, FA, FBV, OA, CC screened potentially eligible patients, extracted clinical data, analysed the data, and interpreted the results. JC and RK searched the literature. SB and JC performed the statistical analysis. CC, JC, KR, FA, FBV and JLP contributed to writing the article. OA and SB reviewed the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Christophe Chiquet.

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Competing interests

We thank the Association for Research and Teaching in Ophthalmology (ARFO, Grenoble, France) for a research grant. None of the authors have a conflict of interest to declare. Neither the study sponsor nor funding organization had a role in the design or conduct of this research.

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Castelain, J., Romdhane, K., Aptel, F. et al. A case-control study of peripapillary microvascular structure by OCT-angiography in non-arteritic ischaemic optic neuropathy at early and resolutive stages. Eye 39, 771–778 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41433-024-03439-w

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