Author: Solmaz Abdolrahimzadeh (Italy)
Co-authors: Mariachiara Di Pippo, Edoardo Sordi, Sandrine Zweifel
Purpose
The aim of this study was to evaluate inner and outer retinal layer thickness in early age related macular degeneration (AMD) in patients with subretinal drusenoid deposits (SDD) or conventional drusen (CD).
Setting/Venue
Academic medical centre: Retina Centre, Ophthalmology Unit, NESMOS Department, University of Rome Sapienza, St. Andrea Hospital, Rome
Methods
This investigation was an observational cross-sectional study including participants with eyes with SDD only, CD only, and healthy age-matched subjects. Participants underwent comprehensive ophthalmoscopic examination. Evidence of SDD or CD was evaluated through the simultaneous evaluation of near infrared reflectance and spectral domain optical coherence tomography images. Macular thicknesses measurements were obtained from generated maps over the central circles with 1 mm, 3 mm, and 5 mm diameter for the full, inner, and outer retinal thicknesses. Continuous variables were compared by Student t-test for independent samples or by the analysis of variance (ANOVA). A p value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results
Fifty-five patients were included in the study. The sample included 18 eyes with SDD alone, 19 eyes with CD alone, and 18 eyes of healthy age-matched subjects (control group). The groups were homogenous for gender, best corrected visual acuity, and spherical equivalent. In the SDD group, 8 of 18 eyes had subfoveal lesions (44%), while in the CD group, 13 of 19 eyes had subfoveal lesions (68%). There was a significant reduction (p ≤ 0.05) in the macular inner layer thickness in the central 1mm area in the SDD group (69.83 ± 6.14 mm) and in the CD group (69.21± 9.72 mm) compared to controls (78.22 ± 11.31 mm), no difference was detected between the SDD and the CD group. A significant reduction of inner retinal thickness was detected in the superior and nasal sector of the 3 mm area, in the SDD and CD group compared to controls (p = 0.001). There was a trend of generalized outer retinal thinning in patients with SDD and CD compared to controls that did not reach statistical significance. Globally, outer, inner, and total retinal thickness in the SDD group was always lower than the CD group, although not statistically significant.
Conlusions
There are inner retinal layers alterations in early AMD in eyes with both CD and SDD. The presence of SDD causes thinning of the inner retinal layers where deposits are anatomically distributed, including the central 1mm area. Evaluation of the difference in thickness between eyes with SDD and CD requires further study on larger patient populations.
Financial Disclosure
Sandrine Zweifel declares the following financial disclosures: Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals C.S Novartis Pharma AG:C.S Roche Diagnostics: C Solmaz Abdolrahimzadeh, Maria Chiara diPippo and Edoardo Covelli do not have financial disclosures
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