A randomized clinical trial evaluating choroidal blood flow and morphology after conventional and pattern scan laser panretinal photocoagulation

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 8; no. 1; pp. 14128 - 10
• Main Authors: Mikoshiba, Yuji, Iwase, Takeshi, Ueno, Yoshitaka, Yamamoto, Kentaro, Ra, Eimei, Terasaki, Hiroko
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 20-09-2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308/409; 692/699/3161/3175; Adult; Aged; Blood flow; Choroid - blood supply; Choroid - diagnostic imaging; Clinical trials; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetic retinopathy; Diabetic Retinopathy - diagnostic imaging; Diabetic Retinopathy - therapy; Female; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Laser Coagulation - methods; Lasers; Male; Middle Aged; Morphology; multidisciplinary; Regional Blood Flow - physiology; Retina - diagnostic imaging; Retinopathy; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Tomography, Optical Coherence; Treatment Outcome; Pattern Scan Laser (PASCAL); Choroidal Blood Flow; Laser Speckle Flowgraphy (LSFG); Conventional Laser Therapy; Subfoveal Choroidal Thickness (SFCT)
• ISSN: 2045-2322; 2045-2322
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-32487-y

We prospectively investigated the changes in choroidal blood flow and morphology after panretinal photocoagulation (PRP) in 39 eyes with severe nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (S-NPDR). Seventeen eyes underwent PRP by conventional laser and 22 eyes underwent pattern scan laser (PASCAL). The choroidal blood flow was assessed by laser speckle flowgraphy, and the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) was measured with optical coherence tomography before and 1, 4, 8, and 12 weeks after the two types of PRP treatments. The choroidal mean blur rate (MBR) at the macular region was significantly reduced to 86.4% of the baseline level in the conventional laser group and 85.7% in the PASCAL group at Week 12 (
P
 = 0.001,
P
 < 0.001, respectively). The SFCT was significantly increased at 1 week following PRP but it was significantly reduced at Week 8
(P
 = 0.001,
P
 < 0.001, respectively) in both groups. The differences in the ratio of the MBR and the SFCT was not significant between the conventional laser and PASCAL groups at any time after PRP. The results suggest that appropriate PRP treatments even by the PASCAL method will reduce the choroidal blood flow and the choroidal morphological components.