Clinical Research Directory

Wide Field OCTA in Ocular Diseases

The main retinal diseases, whether or not associated with specific mutations genetic, cause progressive degeneration of vascular retinal structures and not vascular, resulting in decreased visual function. Often, such diseases affect the noblest part of the retina, called macula. Many retinal diseases can be complicated by choroidal neovascularization which causes frequent bleeding and fluid leakage that accumulates in the subretinal and intraretinal spaces. Although the investigators know many details of each disease affecting the retina, very often the correct diagnostic framework can be complicated, given the presence of morphological elements common to the different pathologies. Similarly, predicting the effect of treatment and the patient's outcome is a constant challenge for the ophthalmologists. Most of the current research has been focused on the assessment of vascular alterations localized in the macula. However, growing evidence highlight the importance of peripheral vascular changes on the outcome of retinal diseases. These changes can be detected only be wide field OCT devices. On the other hand, ocular inflammation and hyperemia represent major assessments in anterior segment disorders, such as dry eye disease. The current grading systems of ocular inflammation, redness and hyperemia are characterized by several limitations, thus making these evaluations still mainly confined to the subjective assessment performed by the ophthalmologist. However, the new generation OCT devices may include also an anterior segment module which can reconstruct anterior segment vessels, non-invasively, using the same technology described for retinal diseases. The main goal of the study is to evaluate the diagnostic contribution of a new generation wide field OCTA device in ocular diseases, which has recently received CE marking. In particular, the investigators will evaluate this new generation device both in retinal and anterior segments diseases, testing for common points and differences with the standard of care non-invasive diagnostic devices. Secondary outcomes include the assessment of the correlation between the patient's visual function (visual acuity) and morphological changes (standard of care imaging assessment) highlighted by the wide field OCT device, with particular attention to microstructural differences between major ocular diseases and the possible development of non-invasive biomarkers, useful for the diagnosis and follow-up of such pathologies.