Evaluation of Retinal Vessel Density and Foveal Avascular Zone in Unilateral Exudative Choroidal Neovascularization by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate treatment-naïve patients with neovascular-exudative age-related macular degeneration (eARMD) in one eye and early-/intermediate-stage nonexudative ARMD (neARMD) in the fellow eye by optical coherence tomography-angiography (OCTA). METHODS: A total of 70 eyes of 35 patients (17 females) with first diagnosis of eARMD in one eye and early/intermediate-stage neARMD in the fellow eye were included in this study. The eARMD diagnosis was confirmed by fluorescein angiography. Each subject underwent OCTA imaging by RTVue XR Avanti OCT device. Capillary vessel density (VD) of superficial (SCP) and deep (DCP) retinal capillary plexuses and foveal avascular zone (FAZ) parameters were measured. RESULTS: The mean age was 72.0±8.9 years (range 59–87). The mean visual acuity was 0.7±0.5 logMar for the eARMD eyes and 0.4±0.3 logMar for the fellow eyes (p=0.012). Nineteen patients (54.3%) had occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV), and 16 patients (45.7%) had classical CNV. The mean FAZ area was measured 0.30 ± 0.11 mm(2) in the eARMD eyes and 0.27±0.11 mm(2) in the fellow eyes (p=0.387). The FAZ circularity index measurement was 1.15±0.03 in eARMD eyes and 1.11±0.05 in the fellow eyes (p=0.014). There was no statistically significant difference in any measure of the macular SCP and DCP’s VD between eARMD eyes and their fellow eyes. CONCLUSION: Potential retinal vascular alterations will be important in ARMD pathogenesis.