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45/100

✓ Peer-reviewed alzhub usefulness score 45 out of 100. Getting a diagnosis

Topic: Risk, prevention and care in population studies

FTD patients demonstrated significantly reduced retinal and choriocapillaris perfusion compared to CU (all p < 0.001). Notably, decreased superficial vascular complex (SVC) density correlated with higher WMH and PVS volumes. Choriocapillaris perfusion showed the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.993) for distinguishing FTD from CU. Furthermore, OCTA metrics, particularly reduced SVC density, were significantly associated with increased SVD burden, indicating a link between retinal microvascular changes and cerebral small vessel pathology in FTD. Our findings support a retina–brain microvascular axis in FTD, where retinal microvascular alterations may reflect cerebral SVD burden. These results highlight the potential of OCTA as a noninvasive biomarker for monitoring vascular contributions to frontotemporal neurodegeneration. The study provides a framework that using OCTA-derived metrics may help improve early diagnosis, disease stratification, and monitoring of vascular involvement in FTD.

Key findings

FTD patients demonstrated significantly reduced retinal and choriocapillaris perfusion compared to CU (all p < 0.001).
Notably, decreased superficial vascular complex (SVC) density correlated with higher WMH and PVS volumes.
Choriocapillaris perfusion showed the highest diagnostic accuracy (AUC = 0.993) for distinguishing FTD from CU.
Furthermore, OCTA metrics, particularly reduced SVC density, were significantly associated with increased SVD burden, indicating a link between retinal microvascular changes and cerebral small vessel pathology in FTD.
Our findings support a retina–brain microvascular axis in FTD, where retinal microvascular alterations may reflect cerebral SVD burden.

Why it matters

In this cross-sectional study, people with frontotemporal dementia had reduced retinal and choriocapillaris perfusion compared to controls, and these retinal changes correlated with cerebral small vessel disease burden. The findings suggest OCTA could be a noninvasive biomarker for monitoring vascular contributions, but no treatment or prevention is tested.

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Study details

Study designcross-sectional
Participants33
Effect sizeAUC = 0.993
Evidence strengthLow

How this study scored 45/100

Published in a peer-reviewed journal, and it is a snapshot of people at one point in time. Scored zero for randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.

Component	Points	Why
Journal tier	7 / 10	Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Alzheimer s Research & Therapy)
Journal's citation record	1 / 4	Alzheimer s Research & Therapy: journal h-index 146 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29)
Study design	4 / 12	A snapshot of people at one point in time
Strength of evidence	1 / 5	Rated “low” in our summary
Peer-review validation	10 / 10	Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal.
How recent	4 / 5	2025 — within 3 year(s) of the newest study here
Sample size	1 / 4	33 participants
Effect reported	3 / 3	Effect reported with a statistic (interval, p-value, ratio or similar)
Studied in people	3 / 3	Studied in people (participant count stated)
Randomised / blinded	0 / 2	No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0)
Times cited	1 / 7	Cited 4 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10)
Citations per year	1 / 5	1.3 citations a year over 3 year(s) since 2025
Impact for its field and year	2 / 6	Cited 2.5× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI)
Cited by studies here	0 / 6	No other study in this library cites it
Still being cited	1 / 4	Cited 4 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex)
Senior author's track record	1 / 4	Last-listed author Liyong Wu: h-index 14 (OpenAlex, whole career)
Institution's track record	0 / 3	Capital Medical University: institution h-index 643 (OpenAlex)
Multi-centre collaboration	1 / 3	OpenAlex lists 2 institution(s) in 1 country
Indexed in PubMed	2 / 2	Indexed in PubMed (PMID 41430353)
Free to read	2 / 2	Free to read
Total	45 / 100	—

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Read the original

Full text: free to read — OpenAlex lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 6 Feb 1020).

Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris

Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record names 7 authors; APA and Vancouver show the first six, BibTeX and the downloads carry all of them. Check the citation against the original before you use it.

APA 7th

Chen, Y., Kwapong, W. R., Chen, X., Gao, Y., Chu, M., Zhang, X., et al. (2025). Retinal microvascular alterations reflect cerebral small vessel disease burden in frontotemporal dementia: a multimodal OCTA–MRI Study. Alzheimer s Research & Therapy. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01945-x

Vancouver

Chen Y, Kwapong WR, Chen X, Gao Y, Chu M, Zhang X, et al. Retinal microvascular alterations reflect cerebral small vessel disease burden in frontotemporal dementia: a multimodal OCTA–MRI Study. Alzheimer s Research & Therapy. 2025. doi:10.1186/s13195-025-01945-x. PMID: 41430353.

BibTeX

@article{chen2025-41430353,
  author  = {Chen, Yufei and Kwapong, William Robert and Chen, Xu and Gao, Yuan and Chu, Min and Zhang, Xuxiang and Wu, Liyong},
  title   = {{Retinal microvascular alterations reflect cerebral small vessel disease burden in frontotemporal dementia: a multimodal OCTA–MRI Study}},
  journal = {Alzheimer s Research \& Therapy},
  year    = {2025},
  doi     = {10.1186/s13195-025-01945-x},
  pmid    = {41430353},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s13195-025-01945-x}
}

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