Subretinal hemorrhage in atrophic age-related macular degeneration.

In eight eyes of eight patients we retrospectively studied the outcome of subretinal hemorrhage occurring in areas of atrophy of retinal pigment epithelium and choriocapillaris secondary to age-related macular degeneration. These patients were followed up for one to 20 months after the initial appearance of the hemorrhage. No subretinal new vessels were associated with these hemorrhages, which resolved over one to 15 months. Our findings indicated that hemorrhages occurring within areas of atrophy are not necessarily associated with subretinal new vessels, and that this type of hemorrhage has a good prognosis for resolution.