For a study, researchers sought to compare the area of artifacts observed in optical OCT-A scans with and without face mask wear and see if mask wear interfered with OCT-A vessel density measurements. A total of 64 eyes were studied, including 10 healthy subjects, 4 ocular hypertensive subjects, 8 glaucoma suspects, and 17 glaucoma patients. Patients with and without surgical masks had high-density ONH and macula OCT-A scans performed. The 2 trained graders evaluated 7 different artifacts (motion, decentration, defocus, shadow, segmentation failure, blink, and Z-offset). Changes in the area (% of the scan area) of artifacts were assessed without and with mask wear and differences in vessel density. With face mask wear, there were trends of increasing motion artifact area for ONH scans [4.23 (−0.52, 8.98)%, P=0.08] and defocus artifact area for macular scans [1.06 (−0.14, 2.26)%, P=0.08]. There were no significant differences in the mean percent area of any artifacts (all P>0.05). Furthermore, the estimated mean difference in vessel density in images acquired without masks was insignificant for any artifact. Wearing a face mask did not affect artifact area or vessel density measurements. OCT-A vessel density measurements can be obtained reliably during the pandemic while wearing a face mask.
