Purpose: We evaluate changes in choroidal thickness after intravitreal injection (IVI) therapy for pachychoroid neovasculopathy (PNV). Methods: An observational, retrospective, consecutive case series was studied of 18 patients (18 eyes) who underwent anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for PNV. The 18 fellow eyes in these patients were used as controls. All eyes were evaluated with swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Results: Mean patient age was 68.3 ± 7.0 years. Mean follow-up was 16.4 ± 2.0 months. No differences in the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the affected eyes were observed between baseline and 12-month follow-up (median Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] score, 77.5 vs. 76 letters, P = 0.074; median logMAR, 0.22 vs. 0.22, P = 0.453). However, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) decreased significantly from a mean of 317.7 ± 39.9 μm at baseline to 266.9 ± 56.3 μm at 12 months (P ≤ 0.001). Median change in SFCT at 12 months was 44.0 μm (range, 17-133 μm). SFCT decreased by 16% from baseline to month 12. The change in SFCT at 12 months was highly correlated with the number of IVI (rs = 0.762, P ≤ 0.001). No significant changes in SFCT were observed in the fellow eyes over the 12-month study period (median, 267.5 vs. 267.0 μm; P = 0.930). Conclusions: Choroidal thickness decreased significantly from baseline to month 12 in eyes with PNV treated with anti-VEGF injections. This reduction might be attributable to a reduction in choroidal vascular permeability and, thus, with a decrease in PNV activity. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Purpose: We evaluate changes in choroidal thickness after intravitreal injection (IVI) therapy for pachychoroid neovasculopathy (PNV). Methods: An observational, retrospective, consecutive case series was studied of 18 patients (18 eyes) who underwent anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy for PNV. The 18 fellow eyes in these patients were used as controls. All eyes were evaluated with swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA). Results: Mean patient age was 68.3 ± 7.0 years. Mean follow-up was 16.4 ± 2.0 months. No differences in the best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of the affected eyes were observed between baseline and 12-month follow-up (median Early Treatment of Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] score, 77.5 vs. 76 letters, P = 0.074; median logMAR, 0.22 vs. 0.22, P = 0.453). However, subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) decreased significantly from a mean of 317.7 ± 39.9 μm at baseline to 266.9 ± 56.3 μm at 12 months (P ≤ 0.001). Median change in SFCT at 12 months was 44.0 μm (range, 17-133 μm). SFCT decreased by 16% from baseline to month 12. The change in SFCT at 12 months was highly correlated with the number of IVI (rs = 0.762, P ≤ 0.001). No significant changes in SFCT were observed in the fellow eyes over the 12-month study period (median, 267.5 vs. 267.0 μm; P = 0.930). Conclusions: Choroidal thickness decreased significantly from baseline to month 12 in eyes with PNV treated with anti-VEGF injections. This reduction might be attributable to a reduction in choroidal vascular permeability and, thus, with a decrease in PNV activity. Prospective studies are needed to confirm these findings.
Authors: Benedikt Schworm; Nikolaus Luft; Leonie F Keidel; Thomas C Kreutzer; Tina R Herold; Siegfried G Priglinger; Jakob Siedlecki Journal: BMC Ophthalmol Date: 2021-06-30 Impact factor: 2.209