Quantitative Reproducibility Assessment Of Rpe Lesions In Patients With Choroidal Neovascularization Related To Neovascular Age-related Macular Degeneration Using Polarization-sensitive Oct

Abstract

Purpose: : To investigate the quantitative reproducibility of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) atrophy detection in patients with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) related to neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) using polarization-sensitive spectral domain OCT (PS-OCT).

Methods: : 14 eyes of 14 patients with nAMD were examined by PS-OCT providing selective identification of the RPE layer. Five examinations per eye and patient were performed at a one day visit. The reproducibility of RPE atrophy detection was assessed manually in one B scan per eye and patient by evaluating lesion dimensions of the first RPE atrophy located closest to the central macular region, using Autocad 2008. This method was applied in order to validate the reliability and clinical applicability of PS-OCT in patients with nAMD.

Results: : Mean RPE atrophy lesion size (greatest linear dimension) of all patients measured by PS-OCT was 0.53mm. The mean coefficient of variation of all patients was 0.16. The mean variation of RPE lesion size as validated from the repeatability measurements was 0.09mm, implying a solid reproducibility of RPE atrophy size evaluation in patients with nAMD by PS-OCT.

Conclusions: : PS-OCT demonstrated good reproducibility of RPE lesion size determination in patients with nAMD. PS-OCT may therefore be a valuable and specific imaging modality for the determination of RPE loss in scientific studies and clinical practice.

Keywords: retinal pigment epithelium • age-related macular degeneration • imaging/image analysis: clinical