Abstract
Purpose :
To determine the association between peripheral retinal lesions and the presence of vitreomacular adhesions at the fovea.
Methods :
Ultra-wide field retinal images (Optomap 200 TX) and corresponding Heidelberg Spectral-Domain OCT retinal images were obtained Northern Ireland Cohort of the Longitudinal Study of Aging (NICOLA Study) participants. Images from 511 participants were assessed. The vitreomacular interface (VMI) was graded for the presence or absence of a vitreomacular adhesion (VMA) using a standardised protocol. The Optomap images were graded for the presence of 16 common retinal lesions, (hard and soft drusen, retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) changes, chorioretinal atrophy, bone spicules, haemorrhages, bear tracks, pavingstone degeneration, naevi, white without pressure, retinoschisis, congenital hypertrophy of the RPE (CHRPE), geographic atrophy (GA), choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), retinal hole and ungradeable area) using the Manchester Grid, which covers the image with 400 boxes, each approximately one disc area in size. Cross tabulation was used to assess the association between presence of lesions in either the peripheral or central retina and status of the vitreous interface.
Results :
960 Optomap and 942 OCT gradeable images were available for analysis. Participants ranged in age from 42 to 96 years (mean 64 years. SD 9.2), 47% were male. Prevalence of VMA within participants in this study was 70% with VMA being relatively evenly distributed between men (70%) and women (68%). Participants with RPE irregularities in their peripheral retina were less likely to have VMA present than those without. In the posterior pole those with hard drusen (p=0.05) or any stage of AMD (p=0.06) tended to be more likely to have VMA present than those without.
Conclusions :
RPE irregularities in the periphery appears to be protective for VMA in the posterior pole whereas AMD features occurring in the macular area increase the risk of VMA.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.