Retinal vascular and structural recovery analysis by optical coherence tomography angiography after endoscopic decompression in sellar/parasellar tumors

We assessed the potential retinal microcirculation alterations for postoperative visual recovery in sellar/paraseller tumor patients with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (OCT-A). Two hundred ten eyes with sellar/parasellar tumor for which preoperative and postoperative (3 months) MRI Scans, Visual Acuity Test, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), OCT-A and, Visual Field Test data were available, besides 92 healthy eyes were evaluated. In the preoperative phase, significant reductions were observed in retinal vascular densities in various regions, including the Superficial Retinal Capillary Plexus (SRCP) (whole: p < 0.001, fovea: p = 0.025, parafovea: p < 0.001), Deep Retinal Capillary Plexus (DRCP) (whole: p < 0.001, fovea: p = 0.003, parafovea: p < 0.001), Peripapillary Vascular Density (PVD) (whole: p = 0.045, peripapillary: p < 0.001, nasal: p < 0.001, inferior: p < 0.001, temporal: p < 0.001), and Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer (RNFL) (nasal: p = 0.024, inferior: p < 0.001, temporal: p < 0.001, superior: p < 0.001) compared to the healthy control group. After surgery, the postoperative data of patients without chiasmal distortion were compared to their preoperative data. In the postoperative evaluation, significant increases were observed in vascular densities in patients without chiasmal distortion in the SRCP (whole: p < 0.001, parafovea: p = 0.045), DRCP (whole: p = 0.007, fovea: p = 0.006, parafovea: p = 0.040), PVD (peripapillary: p = 0.010, inferior: p < 0.001, temporal: p < 0.001, superior: p < 0.001), and RNFL (nasal: p = 0.011, inferior: p = 0.034, temporal: p = 0.046, superior: p = 0.011). Furthermore, significant associations were observed in the ROC analysis between the postoperative Visual Field Mean Deviation (VFMD) and SRCP (whole AUC = 0.793, p < 0.001, cut-off = 51.45, parafovea AUC = 0.820, p < 0.001, cut-off = 53.95), DRCP (whole AUC = 0.818, p < 0.001, cut-off = 55.95, parafovea AUC = 0.820, p < 0.001, cut-off = 59.05), PVD (temporal AUC = 0.692, p < 0.001, cut-off = 55.10), and RNFL (whole AUC = 0.690, p = 0.001, cut-off = 119.5, inferior AUC = 0.712, p < 0.001, cut-off = 144.75). These findings indicate a potential role of pre and post-operative OCT-A measurements in the assessment of surgical timing and postoperative visual recovery in patients with or without optic chiasm distortion.