Abstract:

Retinal vessels is the only blood vessel in the human vascular system that can be seen directly in vivo. Its morphological structure or function changes can directly or indirectly reflect the situation of some systemic diseases. Similarly, some systemic diseases also have characteristic manifestations in retinal vessels. With the rapid development of optical coherent tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA), the understanding of choroidal vessels has been enchanced. It has been found that some eye diseases are closely related to the changes of choroidal vessels, and the relationship between them and the systemic diseases has also been revealed. Characteristic changes of retinal and choroidal vessels such as retinal vessel diameters and tends, retinal nerve fiber layer defect, and the capillary density of retina and choroid may serve as biomarkers of systemic diseases and play a role in the pathogenesis, early warning, diagnosis and treatment response assessment of diseases.

Key words: retinal vessels, choroidal vessels, systemic diseases, early warning system, biomarkers, optical coherent tomography, OCT angiography