{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,14]],"date-time":"2026-10-14T18:29:58Z","timestamp":1792002598350,"version":"4.4.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,1]],"date-time":"2024-02-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1706745600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Doctoral School of the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova","award":["861\/07\/06\/2021"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["861\/07\/06\/2021"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Diagnostics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Objectives: In the current study, we investigated the correlations between retinal microvascular parameters using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and clinical parameters for a group of 69 young patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Materials and Methods: This retrospective, exploratory study enrolled 69 patients between 5 years old and 30 years old who met the inclusion criteria. All the study participants underwent a comprehensive ophthalmic examination and OCTA scans for the evaluation of the retinal microcirculation. The retinal OCTA parameters were correlated with the following clinical parameters: the patient\u2019s age at the onset of the disease, the duration of T1DM, the BMI at the time of enrollment in the study, the HbA1C values at onset, the mean values of HbA1C over the period of monitoring the disease and the degree of DKA at onset. Results: For the study group, the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) area and perimeter correlated positively with the mean value of HbA1C (Pearson correlation, Sig.2-Tailed Area: 0.044; perimeter: 0.049). The total vessel density in the superficial capillary plexus (SCP) correlated negatively with the duration of T1DM, based on the superior and inferior analyzed areas (Spearman correlation, Sig.2-Tailed SCP in total region: 0.002; SCP in the superior region: 0.024; SCP in the inferior region: 0.050). The foveal thickness also correlated negatively with the levels of diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) at onset (Spearman correlation, Sig.2-Tailed: 0.034) and the levels of HbA1C at onset (Spearman correlation, Sig.2-Tailed: 0.047). Further on, the study patients were distributed into two groups according to the duration of the disease: group 1 included 32 patients with a duration of T1DM of less than 5 years, and group 2 included 37 patients with a duration of T1DM of more than 5 years. Independent t-tests were used to compare the OCTA retinal parameters for the two subgroups. While the FAZ-related parameters did not show significant statistical differences between the two groups, the vessel densities in both the SCP and DCP were significantly lower in group 2. Conclusions: Our data suggest that specific alterations in OCTA imaging biomarkers correlate with various clinical parameters: the FAZ area and perimeter increase with higher mean values of HbA1C, leading to poor metabolic control. Moreover, the SCP total vessel density decreases as the duration of T1DM increases. Regarding the vessel densities in the SCP and the DCP, they decrease with a duration of the disease of more than 5 years.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics14030317","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,1]],"date-time":"2024-02-01T09:04:21Z","timestamp":1706778261000},"page":"317","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":11,"title":["Correlations between Retinal Microvascular Parameters and Clinical Parameters in Young Patients with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: An Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7543-3084","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Alexandra Oltea","family":"Dan","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Carmen Lumini\u021ba","family":"Mocanu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Andrei Teodor","family":"B\u0103l\u0103\u0219oiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Cornelia Andreea","family":"T\u0103nasie","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Ileana","family":"Puiu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Pediatrics, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Anca Elena","family":"T\u00e2rtea","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Neurology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Veronica","family":"Sfredel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Physiology, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, 200349 Craiova, Romania"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"286","article-title":"Review of OCT Angiography Findings in Diabetic Retinopathy: Insights and Perspectives","volume":"1","author":"Moir","year":"2021","journal-title":"Int. J. Transl. Med."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"149","DOI":"10.1038\/s41433-020-01233-y","article-title":"Optical coherence tomography angiography in diabetic retinopathy: An updated review","volume":"35","author":"Sun","year":"2021","journal-title":"Eye"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Donoiu, I., T\u00e2rtea, G., Sfredel, V., Raicea, V., \u021auc\u0103, A.M., Preda, A.N., Cozma, D., and V\u0103t\u0103\u0219escu, R. (2023). Dapagliflozin Ameliorates Neural Damage in the Heart and Kidney of Diabetic Mice. Biomedicines, 11.","DOI":"10.3390\/biomedicines11123324"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"370","DOI":"10.1007\/s00125-018-4791-z","article-title":"What do we know about the trends in incidence of childhood-onset type 1 diabetes?","volume":"62","author":"Lawrence","year":"2019","journal-title":"Diabetologia"},{"key":"ref_5","first-page":"e33474","article-title":"Optic Neuritis in a Child with Poorly Controlled Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus: A Case Report","volume":"15","author":"Alassaf","year":"2023","journal-title":"Cureus"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Elian, V., Popovici, V., Ozon, E.-A., Musuc, A.M., Fi\u021ba, A.C., Rusu, E., Radulian, G., and Lupuliasa, D. (2023). Current Technologies for Managing Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus and Their Impact on Quality of Life\u2014A Narrative Review. Life, 13.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202306.0080.v1"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Urbano, F., Farella, I., Brunetti, G., and Faienza, M.F. (2023). Pediatric Type 1 Diabetes: Mechanisms and Impact of Technologies on Comorbidities and Life Expectancy. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 24.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms241511980"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dan, A.O., \u0218tef\u0103nescu-Dima, A., B\u0103l\u0103\u0219oiu, A.T., Puiu, I., Mocanu, C.L., Ionescu, M., T\u0103nasie, A.C., T\u00e2rtea, A.E., and Sfredel, V. (2023). Early Retinal Microvascular Alterations in Young Type 1 Diabetic Patients without Clinical Retinopathy. Diagnostics, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics13091648"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"624","DOI":"10.1038\/s41390-019-0665-4","article-title":"Type 1 diabetes mellitus management in young children: Implementation of current technologies","volume":"87","author":"Phillip","year":"2020","journal-title":"Pediatr. Res."},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Danielescu, C., Moraru, A.D., Anton, N., Bilha, M.-I., Donica, V.-C., Darabus, D.-M., Munteanu, M., and Stefanescu-Dima, A.S. (2023). The Learning Curve of Surgery of Diabetic Tractional Retinal Detachment\u2014A Retrospective, Comparative Study. Medicina, 59.","DOI":"10.3390\/medicina59010073"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e1","DOI":"10.1161\/CIRCRESAHA.122.322003","article-title":"Maintenance of Enteral ACE2 Prevents Diabetic Retinopathy in Type 1 Diabetes","volume":"132","author":"Prasad","year":"2023","journal-title":"Circ. Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1322","DOI":"10.1111\/jdi.13480","article-title":"Update in the epidemiology, risk factors, screening, and treatment of diabetic retinopathy","volume":"12","author":"Lin","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Diabetes Investig."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16012","DOI":"10.1038\/nrdp.2016.12","article-title":"Diabetic retinopathy","volume":"17","author":"Wong","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Dis. Primers"},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1082","DOI":"10.1111\/ceo.14170","article-title":"Ophthalmic imaging in diabetic retinopathy: A review","volume":"50","author":"Nanegrungsunk","year":"2022","journal-title":"Clin. Exp. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"936","DOI":"10.1001\/jamaophthalmol.2022.3130","article-title":"Association of Ultra-Widefield Fluorescein Angiography\u2013Identified Retinal Nonperfusion and the Risk of Diabetic Retinopathy Worsening Over Time","volume":"140","author":"Silva","year":"2022","journal-title":"JAMA Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ko\u0142odziej, M., Waszczykowska, A., Korzeniewska-Dyl, I., Pyziak-Skupien, A., Walczak, K., Moczulski, D., Jurowski, P., M\u0142ynarski, W., Szadkowska, A., and Zmys\u0142owska, A. (2019). The HD-OCT Study May Be Useful in Searching for Markers of Preclinical Stage of Diabetic Retinopathy in Patients with Type 1 Diabetes. Diagnostics, 9.","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics9030105"},{"key":"ref_17","first-page":"37","article-title":"Changes in Retinal Microcirculation Precede the Clinical Onset of Diabetic Retinopathy in Children with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus","volume":"207","author":"Inanc","year":"2019","journal-title":"Arch. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, L., Van Dijk, E.H.C., Borrelli, E., Fragiotta, S., and Breazzano, M.P. (2023). OCT and OCT Angiography Update: Clinical Application to Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Central Serous Chorioretinopathy, Macular Telangiectasia, and Diabetic Retinopathy. Diagnostics, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics13020232"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Yang, D., Ran, A.R., Nguyen, T.X., Lin, T.P.H., Chen, H., Lai, T.Y.Y., Tham, C.C., and Cheung, C.Y. (2023). Deep Learning in Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography: Current Progress, Challenges, and Future Directions. Diagnostics, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics13020326"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1275","DOI":"10.1007\/s00592-019-01395-6","article-title":"Progressive retinal neurodegeneration and microvascular change in diabetic retinopathy: Longitudinal study using OCT angiography","volume":"56","author":"Kim","year":"2019","journal-title":"Acta Diabetol."},{"key":"ref_21","first-page":"5497","article-title":"Assessment of Foveal Avascular Zone (FAZ) Area in Normal and Diabetic Retinopathy Eyes using OCT Angiography (OCTA)","volume":"57","author":"Soules","year":"2016","journal-title":"Investig. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8281459","DOI":"10.1155\/2020\/8281459","article-title":"Morphological Characteristics of Normal Foveal Avascular Zone by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography","volume":"2020","author":"Eldaly","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_23","first-page":"517","article-title":"Superficial and Deep Foveal Avascular Zone Area Measurement in Healthy Subjects Using Two Different Spectral Domain Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Devices","volume":"15","author":"Anvari","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Ophthalmic. Vis. Res."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Le, P.H., and Patel, B.C. (2023). StatPearls [Internet], StatPearls Publishing."},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"e000044","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjdrc-2014-000044","article-title":"Complication characteristics between young-onset type 2 versus type 1 diabetes in a UK population","volume":"3","author":"Song","year":"2015","journal-title":"BMJ Open Diabetes Res. Care"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"T\u0103nasie, C.A., Dan, A.O., Ic\u0103, O.M., Mercu\u021b, M.F., Mitroi, G., Taisescu, C.-I., Sfredel, V., Corbeanu, R.I., Mocanu, C.L., and Danielescu, C. (2024). Retinal Functional Impairment in Diabetic Retinopathy. Biomedicines, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/biomedicines12010044"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Dan, A.O., B\u0103l\u0103\u0219oiu, A.T., Puiu, I., T\u0103nasie, A.C., T\u00e2rtea, A.E., and Sfredel, V. (2023). Retinal Microvascular Alterations in a Patient with Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus, Hemoglobin D Hemoglobinopathy, and High Myopia\u2014Case Report and Review of the Literature. Diagnostics, 13.","DOI":"10.20944\/preprints202308.1253.v1"},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"602","DOI":"10.1097\/OPX.0b013e3182504227","article-title":"Foveal avascular zone and its relationship to foveal pit shape","volume":"89","author":"Chui","year":"2012","journal-title":"Optom. Vis. Sci."},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"591","DOI":"10.3389\/fendo.2020.00591","article-title":"Endothelial Dysfunction in Diabetic Retinopathy","volume":"11","author":"Gui","year":"2020","journal-title":"Front. Endocrinol."},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6210865","DOI":"10.1155\/2020\/6210865","article-title":"Evaluation of Foveal and Parafoveal Microvascular Changes Using Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Type 2 Diabetes Patients without Clinical Diabetic Retinopathy in South Korea","volume":"2020","author":"Park","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Diabetes Res."},{"key":"ref_31","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1069","DOI":"10.1016\/j.oret.2020.04.029","article-title":"Correlation of Quantitative Measurements with Diabetic Disease Severity Using Multiple En Face OCT Angiography Image Averaging","volume":"4","author":"Jung","year":"2020","journal-title":"Ophthalmol. Retin."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1957","DOI":"10.1007\/s40200-021-00886-0","article-title":"The role of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography to detect early microvascular changes in Diabetic Retinopathy: A systematic review","volume":"20","author":"Palma","year":"2021","journal-title":"J. Diabetes Metab. Disord."},{"key":"ref_33","first-page":"4742952","article-title":"Influence of Metabolic Parameters and Treatment Method on OCT Angiography Results in Children with Type 1 Diabetes","volume":"2020","author":"Olechowski","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Diabetes Res."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Go\u0142\u0119biewska, J., Olechowski, A., Wysocka-Mincewicz, M., Odrobina, D., Baszy\u0144ska-Wilk, M., Groszek, A., Szalecki, M., and Hautz, W. (2017). Optical coherence tomography angiography vessel density in children with type 1 diabetes. PLoS ONE, 12.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0186479"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1107","DOI":"10.2147\/OPTH.S248881","article-title":"Correlations Between Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Parameters and the Visual Acuity in Patients with Diabetic Retinopathy","volume":"14","author":"Abdelshafy","year":"2020","journal-title":"Clin. Ophthalmol."},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Qian, J., Haq, Z., Yang, D., Jin, J.Q., and Stewart, J.M. (2022). Duration of Diabetes as a Risk Factor for Retinal Microvasculature Alterations Detected with Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Patients without Clinical Retinopathy. Diagnostics, 12.","DOI":"10.3390\/diagnostics12123020"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"4713","DOI":"10.1364\/BOE.495999","article-title":"Optimizing the OCTA layer fusion option for deep learning classification of diabetic retinopathy","volume":"14","author":"Ebrahimi","year":"2023","journal-title":"Biomed. Opt. Express"}],"container-title":["Diagnostics"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/14\/3\/317\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,10]],"date-time":"2025-10-10T13:52:57Z","timestamp":1760104377000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2075-4418\/14\/3\/317"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,1]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"3","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2]]}},"alternative-id":["diagnostics14030317"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/diagnostics14030317","relation":{},"ISSN":["2075-4418"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2075-4418","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,1]]}}}