Study on TCM Syndromes of Retinal Vein Occlusion Based on Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography
Objective To explore the distribution of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndromes in retinal vein occlusion(RVO)and to study the characteristics of optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA)in RVO patients with various TCM syndrome types.Methods A total of 63 patients(involving 126 eyes)with RVO were selected for retrospective analysis.The Ward hierarchical cluster method was used for the cluster analysis of the patients'syndromes,and then the syndrome types were defined.The clinical information of the patients were summarized and analyzed to explore the distribution of syndrome types.And then the OCTA characteristics of each syndrome type were explored by the OCTA technology and through statistical analysis.Results(1)The analysis of general data showed that among the 63 patients,there were 33 cases of central retinal vein occlusion(CRVO)and 30 cases of branch retinal vein occlusion(BRVO).There were no significant differences in the distribution of gender and the affected side between the two groups(P>0.05),but there was significant difference in the distribution of onset seasons between the two groups(P<0.05).(2)The results of Ward hierarchical clustering showed that the clustering of 4 categories of syndromes was accorded with the clinical practice,and the 4 categories corresponded to qi stagnation and blood stasis type,yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity type,phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type and heart-spleen deficiency type.(3)The analysis of the distribution of TCM syndromes showed that among the 63 patients,qi stagnation and blood stasis type accounted for the highest proportion,being 42.86%(27/63),and the other syndrome types in descending order were phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type[31.75%(20/63)],yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity type[14.29%(9/63)],heart-spleen deficiency type[11.10%(7/63)].(4)The analysis of OCTA characteristics of each syndrome type showed that compared with the healthy eyes,the blood flow density of each retinal layer of in RVO patients with qi stagnation and blood stasis type and phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type was significantly decreased(P<0.05),and the retinal thickness was significantly increased(P<0.05).There was no significant difference in retinal blood flow density and retinal thickness between the affected eyes and the healthy eyes of the other syndromes(P>0.05).The comparison of affected eyes among various syndrome types showed that the blood flow density of each retinal layer of the affected eyes in RVO patients with qi stagnation and blood stasis type was lower than that of the other types(P<0.05),and the blood flow density of phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type was lower than that of yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity type and heart and spleen deficiency type(P<0.05),while there was no significant difference between yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity type and heart-spleen deficiency type(P>0.05).The retinal thickness of each retinal layer of the affected eyes in RVO patients with phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals was higher than that of the other types(P<0.05),and the retinal thickness of qi stagnation and blood stasis type was higher than that of yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity type and heart-spleen deficiency type(P<0.05),while there was no significant difference between yin deficiency and yang hyperactivity type and heart-spleen deficiency type(P>0.05).There were no significant differences in macular foveal avascular zone area(FAZ),perimeter(PERIM),blood flow(FLOW)and acircularity index(AI)among RVO patients with various syndrome types(P>0.05).Conclusion The decreased retinal blood flow density is presented in RVO patients with qi stagnation and blood stasis type and phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type,particularly in RVO patients with qi stagnation and blood stasis type.The increased retinal thickness can be found in RVO patients with phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type and qi stagnation and blood stasis type,particularly in RVO patients with phlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals type.No specific OCTA characteristics are presented in RVO patients with other syndrome types.There are no significant differences in FAZ,PERIM,FLOW and AI among the RVO patients with various syndrome types,either.
retinal vein occlusion(RVO)cluster analysistraditional Chinese medicine(TCM)syndromeqi stagnation and blood stasis typephlegm and blood stasis blocking collaterals typeoptical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA)