Noninvasive retinal imagining may detect biomarkers in Parkinson disease

In patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD), noninvasive retinal imaging may detect potential biomarkers, such as decreased retinal vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PFD), for disease detection, according to a study in JAMA Ophthalmology.

In this cross-sectional study, 69 patients (124 eyes) ≥50 years with PD and 137 control participants (248 eyes) were included. Individuals with diabetes, glaucoma, retinal pathology, other dementias, and corrected Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) visual acuity worse than 20/40 Snellen were excluded.

In the 6 × 6-mm ETDRS circle and the inner ring of the 6 × 6-mm ETDRS circle VD and PFD were lower in eyes of participants with PD. In participants with PD, the total choroidal area and luminal area were greater, but the choroidal vascularity index was lower.

The authors concluded that further studies are needed to investigate noninvasive retinal imaging parameters in PD.

Reference
Robbins CB, Thompson AC, Bhullar PK, et al. Characterization of retinal microvascular and choroidal structural changes in Parkinson Disease. JAMA Ophthalmol. Published online December 23, 2020. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2020.5730