Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography findings in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy suggest a type 1 neovascular growth pattern

• Published in: Clinical ophthalmology (Auckland, N.Z.) N.Z.), 2014-09, Vol.8 (default), p.1689-1695
• Main Authors: Alshahrani, Saeed T, Al Shamsi, Hanan N, Kahtani, Eman S, Ghazi, Nicola G
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; choroidal neovascularization; Detaching; Eyes; Fluid dynamics; Holes; Joints; Lesions; Macular degeneration; Medical imaging; Natural history; Ophthalmology; Optical Coherence Tomography; Original Research; Patients; Photodynamic therapy; Retina; retinal pigment epithelial detachments; SD-OCT; Spectra; Studies; Tomography; Tuberculosis; type 1 choroidal neovascularization; Vascular endothelial growth factor; vascular lesion
• ISSN: 1177-5467; 1177-5483; 1177-5483
• DOI: 10.2147/OPTH.S68471

To report spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). Seventeen eyes of 15 consecutive patients diagnosed with PCV based on typical clinical and angiographic findings were imaged with macular SD-OCT including line scans passing through the polyps. SD-OCT findings included typical and atypical retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) detachments and subretinal and intraretinal fluid in all eyes. In the areas corresponding to the polypoidal lesions, well-delineated round-oval, sub-RPE cavities were present and were adherent to the posterior surface of the detached RPE above Bruch membrane. No retinal or choroidal connections to the cavities were noted. These SD-OCT findings document that the vascular lesions in PCV are not located in the inner choroid, but in the sub-RPE space, suggesting that PCV is a variant of type 1 choroidal neovascularization rather than a distinct clinical entity as initially thought.