Indocyanine-green angiography in patients with occult choroidal neovascularization

Ger J Ophthalmol. 1996 Sep;5(5):251-6.

Abstract

Several studies have stressed the role of indocyanine-green (ICG) angiography in patients with occult choroidal neovascularization (O-CNV) secondary to age-related maculopathy (ARM). The present study was undertaken to evaluate the percentage of eyes that could be converted from O-CNV without suffering pigment epithelial detachment (PED) in well-defined CNV using ICG angiography with a scanning laser system. A total of 112 patients with ARM and O-CNV without PED were included in this prospective study. All patients underwent ICG angiography with a scanning laser system. The early phase (first 3 min) of the ICG angiogram was analyzed for the presence of a neovascular network, whereas focal or irregular hyperfluorescence was noted in the late phase. The early phase of the ICG angiograms revealed in 62 (55%) eyes a well-defined CNV. In 55 of these eyes, late irregular hyperfluorescent and hypofluorescent zones were observed. Another 27 eyes presented with focal hyperfluorescent areas in the latephase studies without having shown a well-demarcated area of neovascularization in the early phase of the ICG angiogram. This study confirms that ICG angiography is an important adjunctive method to fluorescein angiography. In more than 50% of eyes with O-CNV the ICG angiograms obtained with a scanning laser ophthalmoscope enable the visualization of a neovascular network in the early phase.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Choroid / blood supply*
  • Coloring Agents*
  • Female
  • Fluorescein Angiography / methods*
  • Fundus Oculi
  • Humans
  • Indocyanine Green*
  • Macular Degeneration / complications
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / diagnosis*
  • Neovascularization, Pathologic / etiology
  • Ophthalmoscopy

Substances

  • Coloring Agents
  • Indocyanine Green