Abstract
Purpose :
To define and characterize intraretinal reflectance changes in OCT scans associated with intraretinal neovascularization (IRNV) secondary to retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP).
Methods :
Intraretinal radial reflectance alterations in central foveal SD-OCT scans of 16 eyes with IRNV secondary to RAP were analyzed with an image analysis software. Changes in standardized reflectance was quantified and expressed as a ratio of the reflectance at adjacent corresponding retinal layers. Matching spatial reflectance calculations were done in a cohort patient with non-RAP choroidal neovascularization. Correlation between the spatial distribution of reflectance changes and the OCTA-mapped topography of IRNV were sought by overlying OCTA and OCT scans.
Results :
A track of increased radial hyperreflective band was noticed to extend from the inner retina to fibrovascular PED in 13/16 (81.3%) eyes (F/M:12/4; age:80.7 ± 8.5) with RAP vs 0/16 (0%) eyes of patients (F/M:10/6; age:78.8 ± 10.6) with non-RAP choroidal neovascularization (p=0.003). Along the tract of this radial hyperreflective band, standardized OCT reflectance increased 1.34 ± 0.13 x compared to adjacent retinal layers (p<0.001). The reflectance values stayed the same (0.99 ± 0.01 x) at corresponding anatomical locations in non-RAP patients. There was a high spatial correlation with the track of IRNV and increased reflectance on OCTA (p=0.08).
Conclusions :
IRNV in RAP manifest itself with an increased radial reflectance throughout the tract of new vessels in the retina. This ‘retinal flare’ sign is possibly due to plasma leak from the IRNV.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.