Abstract
Purpose::
To quantitatively evaluate the response of choroidal neovascular membranes (CNVM) to treatment.
Methods::
Twenty eyes with active CNVM, secondary to age related macular degeneration (AMD) were evaluated by fluorescein angiography (FA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) prior to any treatment, then throughout the course of treatment. Central retinal thickness (CRT) topographic mapping and lesion volume (LV) were obtained from the OCT. A fluorescein score (FS) was defined as 1 for untreated or unchanged active CNVM, FS=0 was used for a fully closed CNVM. FS of 0.25, 0.5 & 0.75 were used for 75%, 50% and 25% closure respectively. Active lesion volume (ALV) was defined as: ALV = LV x FS.
Results::
When compared with CRT, both LV and ALV showed less variability (40% vs. 20%). However, when used as a predictor for need of future treatment, ALV was significantly more reliable than CRT or LV (82% vs. 61% and 32% respectively).
Conclusions::
ALV calculated by integrating data from FA and OCT is a more useful tool than CRT or even LV in the treatment of CNVM.
Keywords: choroid: neovascularization • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound) • imaging/image analysis: clinical