ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Cell Dev. Biol.
Sec. Molecular and Cellular Pathology
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fcell.2025.1612303
This article is part of the Research TopicArtificial Intelligence Applications in Chronic Ocular Diseases, Volume IIView all 34 articles
Assessment of Retinal and Choroidal Microcirculatory Alterations Following Radiofrequency Catheter Ablation in Atrial Fibrillation Patients Using Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Provisionally accepted
- 1Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
- 2Shanghai Ninth People’s Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, Shanghai, China
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This study employed swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) to explore potential hemodynamic alterations in the retina and choroid following radiofrequency catheter ablation (RFCA) for atrial fibrillation (AF).A total of 58 eyes from 32 patients were included, with SS-OCTA examinations conducted preoperatively and one day postoperatively. The evaluated parameters encompassed vessel density (VD) of the superficial vascular complex (SVC), VD of the deep vascular complex (DVC), choroidal vascular index (CVI), choroidal thickness (CT), thickness of the superficial retinal layer (SRL), and thickness of the deeper retinal layer (DRL).Results indicated no significant changes in the VD of the SVC and DVC, nor in the thickness of the superficial and deeper retinal layers. Conversely, CT demonstrated a significant increase (P < 0.05) and the CVI exhibited a notable rise exclusively within the 1-mm diameter region centered on the fovea (P < 0.05).These findings underscore the remarkable hemodynamic stability of retinal microcirculation in the early postoperative phase. The observed increase in CT and localized elevation in CVI may signify compensatory mechanisms involving enhanced postoperative choroidal perfusion and redistribution of cardiac output, thereby reinforcing the choroid's superior sensitivity as a biomarker for detecting subtle hemodynamic shifts in AF-related ocular pathology.
Keywords: Atrial Fibrillation, optical coherence tomography angiography, Vessel density, Choroidal vascular index, Choroidal thickness
Received: 15 Apr 2025; Accepted: 21 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Wang, Wang, Yang, Li, Wang and Zhang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Zhiliang Wang, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Pei Zhang, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
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