Abstract
Purpose:
It is difficult to observe the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and choroid in eyes with macular hemorrhage because these have been hidden behind the hematoma. To evaluate the RPE and choroidal condition under macular hemorrhage using swept source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT).
Methods:
The appearance of RPE and choroid at the foveal area (within 500μm) were evaluated using SS-OCT (DRI-OCT, Topcon) with 1060 nm light source. We also compared with the results using enhanced depth imaging (EDI) OCT (Spectralis OCT, Heidelberg) in the same cases. Subfoveal choroidal thickness was measured.
Results:
Twenty-six eyes of 26 patients (13 men and 13 women) with macular hemorrhage were examined using SS-OCT and EDI-OCT. Sixteen eyes of 16 patients (mean age 74.1-year-old) in macroaneurysms rupture (MA) and ten eyes of 10 patients (mean age 70.2-year-old) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). SS-OCT can visualize RPE in 23 eyes (88%) and choroid in 21 eyes (81%). EDI-OCT can visualize RPE in 17 eyes (65%) and choroid in 13 eyes (50%). Both RPE and choroid were observed in more cases using SS-OCT than EDI-OCT (P<0.05, respectively). In SS-OCT, subfoveal choroid in AMD was significantly thicker than in MA (308±108μm vs 199±67μm, P<0.05).
Conclusions:
The RPE and choroidal visualization under macular hemorrhage using SS-OCT was better than EDI-OCT because of the long-wavelength light source. Choroidal thickness might be one of the useful factors to classify both MA and AMD although the aging should be considered.
Keywords: 452 choroid •
550 imaging/image analysis: clinical