Comparison of anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography and fluorescein angiography for iris vasculature analysis

Purpose The aim of this study is to perform imaging of irises of different colors using spectral domain anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography (AS-OCTA) and iris fluorescein angiography (IFA) and compare their effectiveness in examining iris vasculature. Methods This is a cross-sectional observational clinical study. Patients with no vascular iris alterations and different pigmentation levels were recruited. Participants were imaged using OCTA adapted with an anterior segment lens and IFA with a confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope (cSLO) adapted with an anterior segment lens. AS-OCTA and IFA images were then compared. Two blinded readers classified iris pigmentation and compared the percentage of visible vessels between OCTA and IFA images. Results Twenty eyes of 10 patients with different degrees of iris pigmentation were imaged using AS-OCTA and IFA. Significantly more visible iris vessels were observed using OCTA than using FA ( W = 5.22; p