{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,26]],"date-time":"2026-06-26T13:57:28Z","timestamp":1782482248170,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]],"date-time":"2025-12-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1765929600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JPM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Purpose: Current pediatric ophthalmology practice relies on adult reference values for optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) interpretation due to limited age-appropriate normative data, potentially leading to diagnostic misclassification. Methods: We conducted a prospective, cross-sectional study comparing OCT and OCT-A parameters between 37 healthy Caucasian children (1\u201317 years) and 28 adults (19\u201365 years) using identical Zeiss CIRRUS protocols. Parameters included peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), macular thickness, ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GCIPL), optic nerve head (ONH) perfusion, and macular vascular density. Results: Children exhibited significantly thinner parafoveal macular thickness compared to adults (251.67 \u00b1 21.32 vs. 270.36 \u00b1 17.02 \u03bcm; p &lt; 0.001) while RNFL thickness remained comparable. OCT-A demonstrated higher ONH perfusion in children across multiple sectors (p &lt; 0.001). Within the pediatric cohort, younger children (1\u20139 years) showed higher macular vessel and perfusion density than older children (10\u201317 years). All pediatric scans achieved excellent image quality with no exclusions. Conclusions: Clinically significant age-related differences in retinal structure and vasculature necessitate pediatric-specific reference ranges. The demonstrated technical feasibility supports routine OCT\/OCT-A implementation in pediatric practice with age-appropriate interpretation guidelines.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jpm15120629","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]],"date-time":"2025-12-17T15:53:46Z","timestamp":1765986826000},"page":"629","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Age-Related Differences in Optical Coherence Tomography and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Parameters Between Healthy Children and Adults: A Comparative Analysis in a Caucasian Population"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9358-249X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Claudia","family":"Lommatzsch","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Departmentof Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital M\u00fcnster, Hohenzollernring 74, 48145 M\u00fcnster, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University of L\u00fcbeck, 23538 L\u00fcbeck, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Antoine","family":"Capucci","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departmentof Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital M\u00fcnster, Hohenzollernring 74, 48145 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Swaantje","family":"Grisanti","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University of L\u00fcbeck, 23538 L\u00fcbeck, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2814-4327","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Carsten","family":"Heinz","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departmentof Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital M\u00fcnster, Hohenzollernring 74, 48145 M\u00fcnster, Germany"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology, University of Essen, Hufelandstrasse 55, 45147 Essen, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4288-8795","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Kai","family":"Rothaus","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Departmentof Ophthalmology, St. Franziskus-Hospital M\u00fcnster, Hohenzollernring 74, 48145 M\u00fcnster, Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,12,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"163","DOI":"10.1002\/dev.20055","article-title":"Multiple Sensitive Periods in Human Visual Development: Evidence from Visually Deprived Children","volume":"46","author":"Lewis","year":"2005","journal-title":"Dev. 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