Quantifying Microvascular Abnormalities in Nonproliferative Diabetic Retinopathy Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Diabetic retinopathy is one of the biggest causes of vision problems in the world. It is caused by damage to the vessels in the eye due to high blood sugar from diabetes. Patients with diabetic retinopathy are classified according to stages of disease, which is important in determining their treatment course. However, there is currently no objective way of classifying patients into different stages. Imaging the eye with a method called optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) can allow us to see subtle changes in the vessels and could lead to a more objective way of categorizing patients based on disease severity. This study will use OCTA to analyze eyes of patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy in order to better classify these patients and understand the changes that lead to disease.