Abstract
Purpose::
To access the frequency of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in patients referred for indocyanine green videoangiography (IGV). To describe epidemiological characteristics of PCV patients, as well as its IGV patterns, and relate epidemiological and clinical features with IGV findings.
Methods::
A retrospective observational epidemiological study was conducted and 800 consecutive IGV performed between January of 1997 and March of 2005 were reviewed. Based on characteristic angiographic features of PCV, 78 eyes of 72 patients were included.
Results::
Frequency of PCV in patients referred for IGV was 9.25% and 8.3% of the patients had bilateral disease. Male female ratio was 1:2 and mean age was 73 ± 9.7 years. Drusen were present in 11.5%. The most frequent clinical presentation was exudative (70.5%), followed by hemorrhagic (16.7%), combined (10.3%) and fibrous scarring (2.6%). Cluster-like pattern with connecting network was found in 46.2%, solitary pattern in 24,4%, multiple dilations pattern in 19.2% and cluster-like pattern without connecting network in 10.3%. Regarding lesion location, 67.9% were macular, 23.1% were peripapillary and 6.4% were extramacular. There was no significant relation (p>0.05) between gender, age, clinical presentation, morphologic pattern and location.
Conclusions::
PCV is not an uncommon diagnosis in patients submitted to IGV. It is more frequent in elderly females with exudative maculopathy. Clinical presentation, morphologic pattern and location of the lesion do not seem to be related.
Keywords: choroid: neovascularization • age-related macular degeneration • macula/fovea