Prevalence and Area of Retinal Pigment Epithelium and Outer Retinal Atrophy in eyes with Non-Exudative Macular Neovascularization

Abstract

Purpose: To assess the prevalence of complete Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) in patients with unilateral exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD) of the fellow eye and establish if the presence of non-exudative macular neovascularization (NE-MNV) influences the prevalence of RPE and outer retinal atrophy in eyes with AMD. Methods: Observational cross-sectional study of 69 patients with unilateral exudative AMD. Demographic and clinical data were collected and multimodal retinal imaging was performed in all patients. Two groups of patients were defined according to the presence (NE-MNV) or absence (No NE-MNV) of NE-MNV in the study eye. We compared the prevalence of cRORA and differences in cRORA area between groups. Results: The prevalence of cRORA in eyes of patients with unilateral exudative AMD of the fellow eye was 14,7% (10 eyes) and the overall mean area of cRORA was 9.25 ± 7.50 mm2. The prevalence of NE-MNV in these eyes was 14.7% (10 eyes). Eyes with NE-MNV and eyes without NE-MNV had a similar prevalence of cRORA (20% (2 eyes) and 14% (8 eyes), respectively; p=0.64). Eyes with NE-MNV had a significantly lower mean area of cRORA (2.07±0.24 mm2) compared with eyes without NE-MNV (11.05±7.34 mm2); (p=0.01). Conclusion: There were no significant differences in the prevalence of complete RPE and outer retinal atrophy between eyes with or without NE-MNV. Nevertheless, eyes with NE-MNV presented significantly lower cRORA areas, which suggests that this type of neovascularization may prevent the progression of RPE and outer retinal atrophy. Longitudinal studies are required to confirm these preliminary results.