Abnormalities in the retinal capillary plexuses in coats disease in adulthood on optical coherence tomography angiography

Purpose:To describe and quantify the abnormalities of the retinal capillary plexuses using optical coherence tomography angiography in Coats disease.Methods:Retrospective study. Eleven eyes of 11 patients with Coats disease (9 men and two women aged 32-80 years) compared with nine fellow eyes and 11 healthy control eyes. Horizontal bands of contiguous 3 x 3 mm optical coherence tomography angiograms of the superficial vascular plexus and deep capillary complex were acquired from the optic disk to 6 mm temporal to the fovea, through areas with telangiectasia visible on fluorescein angiography in 9 cases.Results:The vascular density was significantly decreased in both plexuses in eyes with Coats disease compared with normal and fellow eyes within the 6 mm temporal to the fovea (superficial vascular plexus: 21.5 vs. 29.4%, P = 0.00004 and vs. 30.3%, P = 0.00008; deep capillary complex, 16.5 vs. 23.9%, P = 0.00004 and vs. 24.7%, P = 0.00008, respectively). The fractal dimension was also significantly decreased in eyes with Coats disease (superficial vascular plexus: 1.796 vs. 1.848 P = 0.001 and vs. 1.833, P = 0.003; deep capillary complex: 1.762 vs. 1.853, P = 0.003 and vs. 1.838, P = 0.004, respectively).Conclusion:Retinal plexuses' vascular density was decreased in Coats disease, including in areas with no visible telangiectasia.