Abstract
Purpose: :
Retinal argon-laser-coagulation is an established procedure for induction of choroidal neovascularization in rodents. So far, morphology and devolution of neovascular membranes over time have been analyzed by fluorescence angiography (FA) or by means of rodent sacrification and confocal microscopy. We present standard high-resolution spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) for longitudinal non-invasive evaluation of morphology, latitude and central retinal thickness (CRT) in comparison to FA findings.
Methods: :
Female C57/B-6 mice, 3-5 month of age, were treated with five spots of retinal argon-laser coagulation per eye (150mW, 100ms, 50µm). FA and SD-OCT (Spectralis HRA+OCT, Heidelberg EngineeringGmbH, Dossenheim, Germany) were obtained at day 0-10, 14 and 21. All procedures were conducted under general anaesthesia. Spots were evaluated at retinal and choroidal level. Latitude, CRT and morphology of the spots were analyzed by software provided by Heidelberg engineering.
Results: :
Spot latitude and central retinal thickness did not differ significantly from day 0 to 21 neither at retinal nor choroidal level. Spot latitude differed significantly between retinal and choroidal level (p<0.0001). Spot latitude obtained by SD-OCT correlated significantly with latitude obtained by FA (p<0.0001). SD-OCT revealed subretinal and intraretinal fluid and allowed evaluation of longitudinal morphologic changes of the induced CNV.
Conclusions: :
Non-invasive SD-OCT allows precise evaluation of retinal morphology, as well as calculation of latitude, morphology and CRT in experimental CNV in mice, correlating well with results obtained from FA.
Keywords: imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • age-related macular degeneration • retina