Association between Near Infrared Autofluorescence and Optical Coherence Tomography in Diabetic Macular Edema

Abstract

Purpose: To study the association of near infrared autofluorescence (NIR-AF) imaging with spectral-domain optical coherence tomography(SD-OCT) findings and logarithm of minimal angle resolution visual acuity (logMAR VA) in diabetic macular edema (DME).

Methods: Consecutive 87 eyes of 63 patients who had center-involved DME and on whom NIR-AF and OCT images with sufficient quality were obtained were included in this retrospective study. NIR-AF images were acquired using Heidelberg Retina Angiography 2 (HRA2), and the retinal sectional images were evaluated by Spectralis OCT. The relationship between the characteristics of NIR-AF images, OCT findings, and logMAR VA were investigated.

Results: Thirty-eight eyes with mosaic pattern NIR-AF at the macula had worse VA (0.372±0.251 vs. 0.248±0.221, p=0.019) and more damaged external limiting membrane (ELM) (47.4% vs. 14.3%, p=0.002) than those without this finding. Twenty-seven of 51 eyes with foveal cystoid spaces were accompanied with definite outlines of the cystoid spaces in NIR-AF images. The eyes with such outlines had worse VA (0.386±0.242 vs. 0.192±0.207, p=0.003), more damaged ELM (40.7% vs. 12.5%, p=0.031), and greater central thickness (486.7±122.0μm vs. 408.3±88.5μm, p=0.011) than those without the outlines.

Conclusions: NIR-AF showed mosaic pattern and outline of cystoid spaces in DME, in association with VA and OCT findings, which suggests the clinical relevance as well as the pathogenesis in DME.

Keywords: 499 diabetic retinopathy • 505 edema • 550 imaging/image analysis: clinical