Abstract
Purpose :
To evaluate the choroidal findings of patients with macular neovascularization (MNV) due to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) compared to an age- and gender-matched group using ultra-widefield 26x21mm 1536x1240, depth 12 mm OCTA.
Methods :
In this observational clinical study 20 eyes of 20 conservative patients with MNV due to AMD were examined. Visual acuity (VA), Ultra-widefield OCTA (VG200S; SVision Imaging 2.1.016) as well as the individual number of intravitreal injections (2.00mg/0.05ml Aflibercept or 10mg/ml Ranibizumab) were analyzed. Only patients with clear media were included. B-scans were examined for grading choroidal thickness, flow area in choriocapillaris and choroid, choroidal vascularly index (CVI), choroidal vascular volume (CVV) and retinal vessel density.
Results :
20 of 20 patients with MNV (mean age 78.6±11.1 years, 60%female) with a mean visual acuity (VA) of 0.6 (Snellen) were included. Demographic data of healthy group (n=20, mean age: 77.6±6.1 years, gender: 60% female) were well balanced (p<0.001 compared to MNV group). Median number of injections was 15.5 [IQR19,8], mean follow-up time from initial treatment was 4.5±3.6 years in the MNV group. Patients with nAMD showed a significant lower CVI of 0.361±0.05 compared to the healthy control group 0.420 ± 0.04 (p<0.001) and a significant lower CVV (17.76±8.1) again compared to the control group (23.87±7.6 (p=0.003)). The choroidal thickness of patients with MNV of 149.44±63.24 was significantly lower than the choroidal thickness of the control group, 208.13±74.92 (p<0.001).
There was no significant difference in the flow area of the choriocapillaris in patients with nAMD compared to the control group (233.89±108.07 vs. 278.21±64.83. (p=0,22)) The flow area of the choroid again showed no difference between groups (306.86 ± 93.99 in patients with MNV versus 323.13±68.61 in the control group, p=0,301).
There was no significant difference between the Flow area and the Vessel density of the Retina in nAMD patients and the control group (152.90±44.5 vs. 175.60±27.6 (p=0.157) and 48.79±7.6 vs. 42.47±17.2 (p=0.341) respectively).
Conclusions :
High resolution ultra-widefield OCT angiography allows a detailed assessment of the peripheral and central morphology of the choroid. Eyes with MNV seem to show alterations in the hemodynamics of the choroid, leading to intrastructural changes.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.