Differences in macular morphology between polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and exudative age-related macular degeneration detected by optical coherence tomography.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate the differences in the optical coherence tomographically determined macular morphology in eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) from eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) quantitatively.


METHODS
The medical records of 208 eyes of 203 Japanese patients with PCV or exudative AMD who were newly treated for choroidal neovascularization were reviewed. The six linear, low-resolution, high-speed scans of 6 mm were analyzed using a manually assisted computer algorithm, which allowed us to manually draw spline lines arbitrarily on the images so that the subretinal fluid and neurosensory retina could be segmented. The thickness of the neurosensory retina and height of the serous retinal detachment (SRD) within the central 3-mm and 6-mm areas were calculated.


RESULTS
SRDs were observed in 53% (63/119) of the eyes with exudative AMD and in 78% (69/89) of the eyes with PCV (P < 0.001). The height of the SRD was 21.9 +/- 3.7 microm (+/-SEMs) in eyes with exudative AMD and 56.3 +/- 7.4 microm in eyes with PCV (P < 0.001). The thickness of the neurosensory retina was 300.0 +/- 5.2 microm in eyes with exudative AMD and 275.8 +/- 4.7 microm in eyes with PCV (P < 0.001).


CONCLUSIONS
Eyes with PCV are characterized by a higher incidence of SRDs, greater SRD height, and less intraretinal edema than eyes with exudative AMD.
Ozawa
Shinsuke
S
Department of Ophthalmology, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Japan.
Ishikawa
Kohei
K
Ito
Yasuki
Y
Nishihara
Hiroaki
H
Yamakoshi
Tomomi
T
Hatta
Yoshiyuki
Y
Terasaki
Hiroko
H
D000368:Aged; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply*; D005122:Exudates and Transudates; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008266:Macula Lutea / Q000473:pathology*; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D016491:Peripheral Vascular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000175:diagnosis*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence / Q000379:methods*; D014792:Visual Acuity