Abstract
Purpose: :
FAF captures the autofluorescence(AF) of lipofuscinoid deposits in the retinal pigment epithelium to generate digital fundus images. We compared changes in areas of abnormalAF, from baseline (BL) to 1-year in a subgroup of AREDS2 participants who had bilateral large drusen or advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in one eye at baseline.
Methods: :
FAF images of 184 eyes of 92 AREDS2 participants obtained by the same scanning laser system (Heidelberg HRA2) were evaluated using the AREDS2 FAF grading protocol. Areas of abnormal AF were measured and classified at BL and at 1-year. Abnormal AF was defined as a regional variation in AF that departs from normal background AF, and includes the spectrum in intensity from decreased(dark areas) to increased AF( bright areas).
Results: :
After excluding all eyes with neovascular AMD or poor image quality, 138 eyes were analyzed. At BL visit, 102 (74%) had abnormal FAF. At year-1, 112 (81%) had abnormal FAF. Of the 36 eyes with normal FAF at BL, 26 eyes continued to remain normal and 10 eyes developed abnormal FAF at year-1. Of the eyes that had abnormal AF at both visits nearly all showed some change in the first year of follow up. 22 (19.6%) had a change in area of involvement of less than 0.1 DA, while 90 (80.4%) had changes >/=0.1 DA. Correlation between change in area of abnormal AF and change in the AREDS severity scale level from color grading will be evaluated.
Clinical Trial: :
www.clinicaltrials.gov NCT00345176
Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • clinical research methodology • imaging/image analysis: clinical