Visual acuity assessment of central retinal artery occlusion patients with or without paracentral acute middle maculopathy via OCT-A

PURPOSE: The association between paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM) and visual acuity in patients with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) is still unclear. The present study investigated the visual acuity of CRAO patients with and without PAMM. METHODS: CRAO patients with PAMM or without PAMM were included. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) was used to record the macular retinal thickness and density of shallow and deep vessels. The Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was converted to a logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution (LogMAR) for statistical analysis. RESULTS: There were 34 CRAO patients with PAMM (43.13%), other 30 CRAO patients without PAMM (46.87%). Compared with the no-PAMM group, PAMM group had better LogMAR BCVA (1.48 (0.49, 1.85) Vs. 1.85 (1.70, 1.96), P < 0.01). There was also a significant difference in retinal thickness of the central macular sulcus (328.00 (304.50–332.25) Vs. 352.50 (311.75–420.50), P = 0.01). A significant correlation between LogMAR BCVA and macular retinal thickness was found (r = 0.42; P < 0.01). CONCLUSION: CRAO patients with PAMM had significantly better visual acuity and less macular edema. OCT-A can be used to distinguish different levels of damage due to CRAO.