Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the effect of anti-VEGF therapy on the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) in subjects with neovascular age related macular degeneration (NAMD).
Methods :
We included 15 eyes of 15 subjects with NAMD in this IRB approved prospective longitudinal study. All subjects underwent spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SDOCT; Spectralis, Heidelberg Engineering Inc., Germany) using a macular volume protocol (20x20 degree; 6mm B-scans, 512 A-scans x 97-B-scans, 9x averaging) before and after (one month) anti-VEGF treatment. The luminal and stromal portions of the choroid were auto-segmented using binarization (dark pixels considered to be vessels, bright pixels considered as stroma) of OCT B-scans and segmentation of the binarized choroidal layer was achieved using a previously reported validated automated software. The CVI (%) was calculated as a ratio of the luminal area to the total choroidal area within the central B-scan. The CVI was compared before and after the anti-VEGF treatment using the paired t-test (SPSS ver. 18)
Results :
The mean subfoveal choroidal thickness increased after anti-VEGF therapy but was not statistically significant (160 ± 58 vs. 168 ± 60; p = 0.28). Similarly, the CVI did not change significantly after therapy (57.85 ± 3 vs. 57 ± 3; p = 0.43). Luminal area was similar before and after anti VEGF therapy (p = 0.30).
Conclusions :
The choroid vascularity and choroidal thickness did not alter significantly at 1 month post anti-VEGF therapy in subjects with NAMD. It will be interesting to note these changes at resolution of the disease which we are studying currently.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.