Investigation of the Retinal and Optic Disc Microvascularization in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study

Purpose To investigate retinal and optic disc microvascular alterations using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).Methods Forty-six eyes of 23 patients with PCOS (PCOS group), and 50 eyes of 25 sex and age-matched healthy controls (control group) were included in this cross-sectional study. Foveal retinal thickness, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, vessel density in different sections of the retina and optic disc were analyzed by OCTA.Results The superficial parafoveal vessel densities were significantly lower in PCOS group compared to the control group (53.7 ± 4.0%, and 55.4 ± 2.7%, respectively, p = .02). The deep retinal vessel densities, foveal retinal thicknesses and RNFL thicknesses, whole image of optic disc radial peripapillary capillary densities, foveal avascular zone and flow areas were similar between the groups (p > .05 for all).Conclusion OCTA analysis indicates that patients with PCOS tend to have lower superficial parafoveal vessel densities.