Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) assessing microvascular and macrovascular health in healthy octogenarians.
Authors
Affiliations (12)
Affiliations (12)
- Biomedical Optical Intelligent Lab, Department of Photonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- Department of Family Medicine, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
- Department of Cardiovascular Center, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung, Taiwan.
- Department of Post-Baccalaureate Medicine, National Chung Hsing University, Taichung, Taiwan.
- Department of Life Science, Tunghai University, Taichung, Taiwan.
- Department of Medicine, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- Center for Healthy Longevity and Aging Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan.
- Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan.
- Taipei Municipal Gan-Dau Hospital (Managed By Taipei Veterans General Hospital), Taipei, Taiwan.
- Biomedical Optical Intelligent Lab, Department of Photonics, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. [email protected].
- Center for Healthy Longevity and Aging Sciences, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Hsinchu, Taiwan. [email protected].
- Medical Device Innovation and Translation Center, National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University, Taipei, Taiwan. [email protected].
Abstract
Subclinical cardiovascular abnormalities are recognized as primary risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD). Most studies explore microcirculation, while the associations of peripheral microvascular structures and abnormalities have been understudied. This study aimed to use OCTA to gauge the microvascular structure in the proximal nailfold and estimate cardiovascular health via echocardiography, arterial tonometry, and blood tests in samples of healthy octogenarians. We employ unsupervised machine learning methodologies, and vascular patterns are clustered to identify possible microcirculatory characteristics for assessing cardiovascular conditions. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis on 104 participants aged over 80 years to investigate the association between peripheral microvascular structures and subclinical cardiovascular changes. We extracted 12 vascular features from processed three-dimensional nailfold microvasculature obtained from optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Subjects with different microvascular patterns were assigned to one of two clusters using hierarchical clustering analysis based on feature similarity. The cardiovascular parameters of the subjects between these two clusters were statistically compared. As a result, the cluster with denser, smaller, and less tortuous microvascular structure exhibits better cardiovascular conditions regarding resting heartbeats, systolic function, left ventricular sizes, and arterial stiffness. Our study highlights the potential of estimating cardiovascular health in the elderly from nailfold microvascular structure.