Relationship between foveal birefringence and visual acuity in neovascular age-related macular degeneration.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the relationship between visual acuity and foveal birefringence in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration.


METHODS
In total, 40 patients with choroidal neovascularization underwent macular imaging with scanning laser polarimetry. Bowtie patterns, typically seen in birefringence images of the macula, were evaluated and classified into three categories: (1) regular bowtie present; (2) bowtie present, but disrupted; and (3) no bowtie present. The relation of the bowtie appearance to the best-corrected logMAR visual acuities was tested (ANOVA).


RESULTS
Mean visual acuity was best for the group that had regular bowties (mean logMAR=0.34) and differed statistically significantly from the disrupted bowtie group and no bowtie group (P=0.01 and 0.0007). Ages for the three groups did not differ (P=0.31).


CONCLUSIONS
Appearance of a regular bowtie indicates a substantially intact Henle fibre layer with the potential for good visual function, despite the presence of underlying pathology. Conversely, disruption or absence of a bowtie may indicate severe damage to the photoreceptors, consistent with the finding of poorer visual acuity.
Weber
A
A
The Schepens Eye Research Institute and Harvard Medical School, Boston 47405, USA.
Elsner
A E
AE
Miura
M
M
Kompa
S
S
Cheney
M C
MC
D000368:Aged; D001718:Birefringence; D020256:Choroidal Neovascularization / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003941:Diagnostic Techniques, Ophthalmological; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography / Q000379:methods; D005584:Fovea Centralis / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007834:Lasers; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000150:complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*