Objective: To evaluate optic nerve head and macular perfusion in subjects with Parkinson’s disease (PD) and its association with clinical manifestations.

Background: PD is associated with a microangiopathy contributing to clinical onset and progression of the disease. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) allows a three-dimensional mapping of the optic nerve and retinal microvasculature. Other have reported retinal microvascular abnormalities in PD.

Method: In this study, 52 eyes of 27 subjects with PD and 104 eyes of 52 age- and sex-matched controls were included. OCTA was performed using Cirrus HD-OCT 5000 (Carl Zeiss, Meditec). In addition, patients underwent a neuroophthalmological and neurological examination, including the Spanish version of the Movement Disorders Society Unified Parkinson’s Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS).Paired Samples t-Test was used for statical analysis. Differences were considered significant if p < 0.05.

Results: The internal peripapillary flow density (p=0.023), the central flow density (p=0.005) and the perfusion in the superficial retinal macular layer (p<0.001) was lower in PD when compared to controls. We observed a positive correlation between the central flow density (r=0.374, p=0.009) and perfusion (r=0.358, p=0.012) in the superficial retinal of the macula with the MDS-UPDRS III.

Conclusion: Patients with PD showed a reduced flow density and perfusion in the peripapillary capillaries layer and in the superficial retinal OCTA when compared to controls. Our results suggest that an increased flow density and perfusion in the superficial macular layer is associated with worst motor manifestations in PD.

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/evaluation-of-ocular-perfusion-in-parkinsons-disease-and-association-with-clinical-manifestations/