Relationship Between Retinal Perfusion and Retinal Thickness in Healthy Subjects: An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study

PURPOSE: To investigate the relationship between retinal perfusion and retinal thickness in the peripapillary and macular areas of healthy subjects. METHODS: Using spectral-domain optic coherence tomography and split-spectrum amplitude decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm, retinal perfusion and retinal thicknesses in the macular and peripapillary areas were measured in healthy volunteers, and correlations among these variables were analyzed. RESULTS: Overall, 64 subjects (121 eyes) including 28 males and 36 females with a mean ± SD age of 38 ± 13 years participated. Linear mixed-models showed that vessel area density was significantly correlated with the inner retinal thickness (from the inner limiting membrane to the outer border of the inner nucleus layer; P < 0.05), but not with the thickness of the full retina (P > 0.05) in the parafoveal area. The area of the foveal capillary-free zone was negatively correlated with the inner and full foveal thicknesses (all P < 0.001). In the peripapillary area, the vessel area density was positively correlated with the thickness of the retinal nerve fiber layer (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In healthy subjects, retinal perfusion in small vessels was closely correlated with the thickness of the inner retinal layers in both the macular and peripapillary areas.