Table 2.
Potential applications of anterior segment optical coherence tomography angiography in the cornea and ocular surface.
| Anatomical Location | Pathologies | Potential Applications |
|---|---|---|
| Cornea | Corneal neovascularization (CoNV) | Diagnosis: superficial or mid-stromal CoNV in interstitial keratitis is suggestive of varicella zoster virus while deep CoNV suggests herpes simplex virus [16,17] Assessment: correlation of vessel density to CoNV severity and visual acuity [18,19] Assessment/treatment response: pre-operative selection of vessels for FND as well as post-treatment monitoring response to FND with anti-VEGF in human eyes with CoNV and corneal scarring [20] Treatment response: depth of corneal vascularity post-PK and DALK [21] |
| Ocular surface | Limbal stem cell deficiency | Assessment: objective staging of limbal ischemia [22,23] |
| Dry eye disease | Assessment: positive correlation between number of conjunctival vessels and severity of disease [24] | |
| Conjunctiva, episclera, and Sclera | Ocular surface squamous neoplasia (OSSN) | Diagnosis: greater diameter and peri-lesional vessel depth and diameter in malignant lesions compared to benign lesions [25] Diagnosis: differentiation from other lesions such as pterygium (“zigzag vessels” in both the superficial and deep layers in OSSN and “straight vessels” in the superficial layer in pterygium) [26] Treatment response: decreased subepithelial vessel area density post-treatment with topical immunotherapy or chemotherapy [27] |
| Pterygium and conjunctival autografts | Treatment response: inverse correlation between post-operative thickness and revascularization of autograft [28,29] | |
| Episcleritis and scleritis | Diagnosis: greater vessel density index in scleritis compared to episcleritis [30] Assessment: positive correlation between vessel density and severity of scleritis [31] |
|
| Glaucoma | Treatment response: decreased episcleral vessel density post-MIGS [32] Treatment response: lower IOP in hypovascularized conjunctival blebs compared to hypervascularized blebs post-trabeculectomy [31] |
DALK—deep anterior lamellar keratoplasty; FND—fine needle diathermy; IOP—intraocular pressure; MIGS—minimally invasive glaucoma surgery; PK—penetrating keratoplasty.