CORRELATION OF OUTER RETINAL TUBULATIONS AND CHORIOCAPILLARIS FLOW SIGNAL DEFICITS SURROUNDING GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY

Retina. 2021 Sep 1;41(9):1940-1947. doi: 10.1097/IAE.0000000000003135.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate and compare paralesional and perilesional choriocapillaris vascular impairment in eyes with geographic atrophy with and without outer retinal tubulations (ORT).

Methods: Using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography, 6 × 6 mm scans of eyes with geographic atrophy with and without ORT were acquired. Choriocapillaris en-face flow and structural images were binarized, before flow signal deficit (FD) analysis in the paraatrophy zone (a 500-µm-wide band adjacent to the geographic atrophy) and the periatrophy zone (a 500-µm-wide band adjacent to the latter).

Results: Twenty-four eyes of 19 patients with ORT and 18 eyes of 15 patients without ORT were analyzed. With and without ORT, mean percental area of FD (%FD) was greater in para- than in periatrophy zone. The difference of %FD between para- and periatrophy zone (deltaFD) was lower in eyes with ORT (mean 1.8477%, 95% confidence interval 0.8607-2.8346) than without ORT (mean 4.0018%, 95% confidence interval 2.8622-5.1414).

Conclusion: In eyes with geographic atrophy caused by non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration, smaller reductions in FDs were found between the para- and periatrophy zone in eyes with ORT. In both cohorts, the paraatrophy zone had more FD than the periatrophy zone.

Publication types

  • Multicenter Study

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Choroid / blood supply*
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Female
  • Fluorescein Angiography / methods*
  • Fundus Oculi
  • Geographic Atrophy / diagnosis
  • Geographic Atrophy / physiopathology*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Regional Blood Flow / physiology*
  • Retinal Pigment Epithelium / diagnostic imaging*
  • Retinal Vessels / diagnostic imaging
  • Retinal Vessels / physiopathology*
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence / methods*