{
  "abstract": "Introduction Vasculopathy represents the primum movens in Systemic sclerosis (SSc) pathogenesis and the determining cause of many of its clinical manifestations. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) provides information on retinal blood vessels, structure and flow. Some studies have documented the presence of retinal vascular alterations in patients with SSc.The aim of the study is to evaluate the microangiopathic alterations in the retina of SSc patients and to evaluate their correlation with the clinical manifestations of the disease and the alterations at the capillaroscopy.Material and Methods This is a case-control study (SSc versus healthy controls (HC)).The inclusion criteria for patients were: diagnosis of SSc or Very early SSc (VEDOSS), absence of maculopathy, no therapy with Hydroxychloroquine. The OCTA acquisition consisted of 3 x 3 mm scans of the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) of both the macula and the optic nerve, performed using Canon OCT with dilated pupils. The vascular density (VD) and the vascular length density (VLD) as long as foveal avascular zone (FAZ) were calculated using dedicated software . Retinal thickness in the fovea and in the perifoveal region was also measured.Results 82 eyes of 41 SSc patients (of which 11 were VEDOSS) were compared with 40 eyes of 20 HC. Patients showed significantly reduced VD values in all areas evaluated both at the SCP level (p<0.001) and at the DCP level (p<0.001). VLD values were also significantly reduced in patients compared to HC, both at the SCP (p<0.001) and DCP (p<0.001). Also at the optic nerve level, both VD and VLD values were significantly reduced at the SCP (p<0.001 for both) and at the DCP level (p=0.009 and p<0.001, respectively). Differently, FAZ values were not significantly different in patients versus HC. Retinal thickness of the parafovea was significantly increased in SSc patients (p=0.013). No significant difference was found by comparing the OCTA parameters of SSc patients with VEDOSS patients. Correlating retinal values with capillaroscopic parameters, the values of VD and VLD at the foveal level in DCP correlate with the presence of avascular areas (p=0.018 and p= 0.019, respectively) and neoangiogenesis (p=0.023 and p=0.025, respectively). In addition, the correlation between FAZ DCP and the presence of avascular areas is at the limit of significance (p=0.058).Conclusions This study reported the presence of ocular microangiopathy in scleroderma patients since the early stages of the disease and its correlation with capillaroscopic alterations, confirming the systemic nature of scleroderma microangiopathyAbstract P.068 Figure 1",
  "authors": [
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rheumatologic unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Martina Orlandi"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental & Morphological Sciences with Interest Transplant, Oncological & Regenerative Me, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Tommaso Verdina"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rheumatologic unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Filippo Santoro"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental & Morphological Sciences with Interest Transplant, Oncological & Regenerative Me, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Mohammed El Alouani"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Department of Surgical, Medical, Dental & Morphological Sciences with Interest Transplant, Oncological & Regenerative Me, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Matteo Gibertini"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rheumatologic unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Giorgia Roveta"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rheumatologic unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Amelia Spinella"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rheumatologic unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Marco De Pinto"
    },
    {
      "affiliations": [
        "Rheumatologic unit, Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences for Children and Adults, University of Modena and Reggio, Modena, Italy"
      ],
      "name": "Dilia Giuggioli"
    }
  ],
  "title": "P.068 Optical coherence tomography angiography: a window on systemic sclerosis microangiopatHY",
  "uid": "3614beec-8a12-521b-a28a-d3845baa5360"
}