Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 118, Issue 5, May 2011, Pages 840-845
Ophthalmology

Original article
Choroidal Thickness in Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy and Exudative Age-related Macular Degeneration

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2010.09.012Get rights and content

Purpose

To compare choroidal thickness between eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) and eyes with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Design

Observational, comparative case series.

Participants

Twenty-five eyes with PCV, 14 uninvolved fellow eyes with PCV, 30 eyes with exudative AMD, 17 eyes with early AMD, and 20 eyes of age-matched normal subjects.

Methods

Choroidal thickness was measured using enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography. Subfoveal choroidal thickness in each eye was analyzed by measurement of the vertical distance from the Bruch's membrane to the innermost scleral layer. Nasal, superior, temporal, and inferior choroidal thicknesses, 1500 μm apart from the foveal center, were also evaluated in all eyes.

Main Outcome Measures

Choroidal thickness in each group.

Results

Mean (± standard deviation) subfoveal choroidal thickness in eyes with PCV and in their uninvolved fellow eyes was 438.3±87.8 μm and 372.9±112.0 μm, respectively, which was significantly greater than in eyes of age-matched normal subjects (224.8±52.9 μm) (P<0.001 and P = 0.003, respectively). Subfoveal choroidal thickness of eyes with exudative AMD (171.2±38.5 μm) and eyes with early AMD (177.4±49.7 μm) was thinner than that of age-matched normal subjects (P = 0.004 and P = 0.078, respectively). Choroidal thickness at each of the other 4 points showed a similar tendency.

Conclusions

This study demonstrates thickening of choroid in the eyes with PCV, in contrast with choroidal thinning observed in eyes with AMD. These findings suggest involvement of different pathogenic mechanisms in PCV from those in exudative AMD.

Financial Disclosure(s)

The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

We evaluated patients with PCV and exudative AMD accompanied with choroidal neovascularization who were examined at the Department of Ophthalmology at Samsung Medical Center from October 2009 to March 2010. Institutional review board approval (institutional review board file number 2010-04-033) was obtained for this study. According to the findings of the pilot study, the difference in choroidal thickness is expected to be 30 μm for eyes with early AMD and 50 μm for eyes with exudative AMD,

Results

A total of 87 subjects (47 male and 40 female) with a mean (± standard deviation [SD]) age of 69.9±8.4 years were involved in this study. The study ultimately included 25 eyes of 21 patients with PCV, 14 uninvolved fellow eyes of patients with PCV, 30 eyes of 30 patients with exudative AMD, 17 eyes of 16 patients with early AMD, and 20 age-matched normal eyes. Among 21 patients with PCV, 6 (28.6%) evidenced PCV involvement in both eyes. Among those 6 patients, 2 fellow eyes were excluded

Discussion

This study disclosed choroidal thinning in AMD, and, by contrast, marked choroidal thickening in PCV, when compared with choroidal thickness of age-matched normal eyes. Choroidal thickness in patients with early AMD also tended to be thinner than that of normal eyes. As far as we are aware, this is the first study reporting on choroidal thickness in those disorders. Because of difficulty in recruitment, eyes presenting dry AMD were not included in this study. The disorder has been known to be

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    Manuscript no. 2010-798.

    Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

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