Association Between Retinal Artery Angle and Visual Function in Eyes With Idiopathic Epiretinal Membrane

Abstract

Purpose This study investigated the relationship between retinal artery angle and visual function in eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM). Methods Ultra-wide field fundus imaging was conducted to analyze ERM and normal contralateral eyes. In addition to the logMAR visual acuity (VA) measurement, the average of the vertical and horizontal metamorphopsia scores (Mave) was measured using m-Charts for each eye. We calculated the retinal artery angle (Yugami correlated angle [YCA]) in all the examined eyes using ImageJ software. The YCAs were then compared between the ERM and normal contralateral eyes. Additionally, the relationship between YCA and visual function was investigated in the ERM eyes. Results Data from 40 patients with ERM were analyzed. The mean age of the participants was 67.1 ± 8.1 years. The YCA was significantly smaller in the ERM eyes, compared with the contralateral eyes ( P < 0.001, respectively; Wilcoxon signed rank test). Among age, axial length, YCAs, central retinal thickness (CRT), and central choroidal thickness (CCT), the optimal model for logMAR VA included age, YCA, and CRT. On the other hand, the optimal model for Mave included YCA and CCT. Conclusions The retinal artery angle may be useful for predicting visual function in eyes with ERM. Translational Relevance Our established quantitative measurements in fundus photography have potential clinical use in predicting visual function in ERM.

Retinal Artery Angles in High Axial Myopia and Its Relationship With Visual Function

“…Presumably, the change of retinal artery angle is influenced by various traction forces, such as AL elongation and eyeball expansion. Our hypothesis aligns with the studies 6 , 27 suggesting that retinal vessels become straightened and attenuated, leading to decreased vascular perfusion due to axial elongation and eyeball expansion in high myopia. In other words, straightened retinal vessels led to a change in YCAs, accompanied by a decrease in VDs.…”

“…The retinal artery angle was defined as the angle between the supratemporal and the infratemporal vascular arches, with the optic disk as the vertex (named YCA). It was measured by the ImageJ system (version 2.0.0; National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA) as suggested by Nagura et al 6 For the assessment of the angle YCA, we drew a circle with a radius of the distance between the fovea and optic disk center and determined the intersection points between the supratemporal and infratemporal major retinal artery and the drawn circle. Moreover, the angle between two intersections and the optic disk center in the eyes with high axial myopia was calculated.…”

“…Previous studies 4 , 5 have utilized the retinal artery angle to evaluate morphologic changes in retinal arteries. The Yugami correlated angle (YCA), a measurement of the retinal artery angle, was first introduced by Nagura et al 6 Their study demonstrated that YCAs were significantly smaller in eyes with idiopathic epiretinal membrane (ERM) due to membrane traction. Moreover, it was suggested that YCAs were strongly associated with visual function in eyes with ERM.…”

Clinical characteristics and mutation spectrum in 33 Chinese families with familial exudative vitreoretinopathy

“…Nagura et al. [ 24 ] reported that the YCA was smaller in the eyes with an epiretinal membranes than that in the contralateral eyes. They speculated that contraction of the retina secondary to stretching by the epiretinal membrane was responsible for the decrease in the YCA and deterioration in visual function.…”

“…We measured the retinal artery angle in the participators’ eyes in accordance with the Yugami correlated angle (YCA) defined by Nagura et al. [ 24 ]. First, the distance between the optic nerve head (ONH) and the fovea was measured.…”