Predicting visual acuity in Bietti crystalline dystrophy: evaluation of image parameters

BACKGROUND: To analyze multiple imaging modalities in patients with Bietti crystalline dystrophy (BCD) and to investigate which factors from these modalities are associated with best corrected visual acuity (BCVA). METHODS: In this retrospective study, 40 eyes from 22 patients with BCD were included and were separated into group 1 (BCVA ≤20/200) and group 2 (BCVA > 20/200). Data including BCVA and characteristic findings from near-infrared reflectance (NIR) imaging, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), and spectral domain-optic coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were analyzed and compared. The outcome measures of multimodal imaging were evaluated for correlation with BCVA. RESULTS: NIR is a good diagnostic tool for detecting either crystalline or sclerotic vessels in BCD. Patients in group 1 tended to have a thinner choroid (P = 0.047) with ellipsoid zone (EZ) disruption (P = 0.011). Calculation of the area under the curve indicated that EZ disruption detected on SD-OCT could be a good predictor of legal blindness in BCD. CONCLUSION: For the diagnosis of BCD, NIR could be a good diagnostic tool. Of the studied imaging modalities, we found that EZ disruption at the fovea were strongly associated with legal blindness, which could be easily assessed by SD-OCT. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12886-021-01811-y.