Optical coherence tomography features of choroidal neovascularization and their correlation with age, gender and underlying disease.
PURPOSE To investigate the influence of age, gender and underlying disease on the optical coherence tomography (OCT) features of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) secondary to Inflammation (iCNV) myopia (mCNV) and age related macular degeneration (AMD CNV) METHODS Demographic and clinical data of eyes with treatment naive iCNV, mCNV and type 2 AMD CNV were collected. OCT images were reviewed to determine the presence of pitchfork sign (PFS) pigment epithelial detachment (PED) subretinal fluid (SRF) intraretinal cysts (IRC) subretinal hyper reflective material (SHRM) atrophy and outer retinal disruption (ORD) graded 1 to 4. The influence of demographics and underlying etiology on OCT signs was investigated. RESULTS 185 eyes from 179 patients were enrolled. The mean[SD] age was 36[ 14.4] 62[ 18] and 77[ 8] for the iCNV, mCNV and AMD CNV respectively (p<0.001) Multiple linear regression showed that the presence of PFS was negatively associated with age (p<0.0001) regardless of underlying disease. By contrast the SRF, PED, IRC and the ORD were all positively influenced by age regardless of gender and underlying disease (all p<0.01) Logistic regression showed that none of the OCT signs increased the likelihood for diagnosis of iCNV. By contrast, absence of SRF was suggestive for mCNV and presence of PED and SRF was suggestive for AMD CNVs. CONCLUSIONS The age of the patient had a significant effect on the OCT appearance of the CNV, particularly the presence of a PFS, regardless of the underlying etiology. The absence of SRF was suggestive for a diagnosis of mCNV. The presence of SRF and PED was suggestive for AMD CNVs.
Retina