Abstract
Purpose :
To examine presence and associated factors of intraretinal hyperreflective bodies (iHRBs) and intraretinally located retinal pigment epithelium cells (iRPECs).
Methods :
Population-based cross-sectional study and histological investigation: Participants of the Beijing Eye Study were examined by optical coherence tomography (OCT)-based and fundus photography-based examination, and enucleated human eyes were explored by light microscopy.
Results :
In the Beijing Eye Study (6551 eyes;3301 participants), all 32 eyes with intermediate age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and macular hyperpigmentations, and 19 (90%) out of 21 eyes with late AMD and macular hyperpigmentations, showed iHRBs spatially corresponding with the macular hyperpigmentations. In 31 (97%) and 17 (81%) eyes, resp., the iHRBs were spatially correlated with a localized thickening or elevation of the RPE line, and in 29 (91%) eyes and 19 (91%) eyes, resp., with a spatially correlating ELM defect. In 11 (34%) and 12 (57%) eyes, resp., the iHRBs were associated with a plume-like appearance. All eyes with iHRBs showed an ellipsoid zone defect, and all iHRBs did not have a shadow on the OCT images. Among 237 eyes examined histologically, 21 globes showed iRPECs (8 eyes in parapapillary alpha zone/beta zone; 5 eyes with myopic patchy atrophies, 3 eyes with AMD). The iRPECs were spatially associated with an ELM defect and were not surrounded by a basal membrane.
Conclusions :
Intraretinally located (migrated) RPE cells in the macula are the histological correlate of macular hyperpigmentations in eyes with intermediate and late AMD. In light-microscopical and OCT-based histology, they spatially correspond to localized ELM defects.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.