Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate the association between baseline subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and response to stereotactic radiotherapy (SRT) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).
Methods :
A total of 35 eyes of 35 patients with nAMD were analyzed 12 months after SRT. Patients have been treated with pro re nata (PRN) intravitreal injections (IVI). Serial enhanced depth imaging (EDI) optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans were used to measure SFCT and central macular thickness (CMT). Patients’ data were retrieved from medical records including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Baseline predictors for clinical response (≤ 3 IVI after SRT) were assessed at 12 months follow-up using univariate and multivariate analyses.
Results :
Mean age at time of treatment was 76.2 ± 7.1 years, and 21 eyes (60%) were good responders. The good responder group had a thicker subfoveal choroid (255.5 ± 38.2 µm) at baseline than the poor responders (202.6 ± 66.4 µm; P=0.0038). A higher baseline SFCT was found to be a strong negative predictor for the number of IVI needed after SRT (regression coefficient: -0.68; P=0.000010), which reflects a good clinical response to SRT.
Conclusions :
Baseline SFCT may help predict which patients with nAMD will respond more favorably to SRT. In this study, eyes with a thicker baseline SFCT needed less IVI after SRT.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2017 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore, MD, May 7-11, 2017.