Age-Dependent Retinal Parameter Correlation Patterns on OCT and OCT Angiography in Children and Adults.
Adults show far stronger linkage between macular blood vessel and tissue measurements than children on eye scans.
Age-Dependent Retinal Parameter Correlation Patterns on OCT and OCT Angiography in Children and Adults.
Optical coherence tomography (optical coherence tomography) and optical coherence tomography angiography (optical coherence tomography-A) provide detailed measurements of retinal structure and vasculature; however, age-related differences in how these parameters correlate with one another remain poorly understood.
We hypothesized that vascular-structural integration in the macula is more pronounced in adults than in children.
This prospective cross-sectional observational study enrolled 37 healthy children (age 1-17 years) and 28 healthy adults (age 18-65 years).
Ninety univariable correlations met p < 0.001.
The pediatric cohort displayed 40 unique correlations, primarily linking optic nerve head flow indices to retinal nerve fiber layer thickness.
Adults exhibited 36 unique correlations, dominated by macular vascular-thickness coupling concentrated in the parafoveal region.
After multivariable adjustment, 52 of 90 associations remained significant.
Retinal parameter correlation patterns show fundamental differences between pediatric and adult eyes.
While optic nerve head-macular thickness relationships remain consistent across ages, adults exhibit mature, localized integration of macular vascular and structural parameters absent in children.
These findings suggest that pediatric and adult optical coherence tomography/optical coherence tomography-A measurements may benefit from separate reference standards, although prospective validation is required before clinical implementation.