Automated vessel density detection in fluorescein angiography images correlates with vision in proliferative diabetic retinopathy

Purpose To investigate the correlation between quantifiable vessel density, computed in an automated fashion, from ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography (UWFFA) images from patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) with visual acuity and macular thickness. Methods We performed a secondary analysis of a prospective randomized controlled trial. We designed and trained an algorithm to automate retinal vessel detection from input UWFFA images. We then used our algorithm to study the correlation between baseline vessel density and best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and CRT for patients in the RECOVERY study. Reliability of the algorithm was tested using the intraclass correlation (ICC). 42 patients from the Intravitreal Aflibercept for Retinal Non-Perfusion in Proliferative Diabetic Retinopathy (RECOVERY) trial who had both baseline UWFFA images and optical coherence tomography (OCT) data were included in our study. These patients had PDR without significant center-involving diabetic macular edema (central retinal thickness [CRT]