Characteristic appearances of fundus autofluorescence in treatment-naive and active polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy: a retrospective study of 170 patients.

PURPOSE

To investigate the characteristic appearances of fundus autofluorescence (FAF) in patients with treatment-naive and active polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

METHOD

Cases with the diagnosis of treatment-naive and active PCV from November 2012 to May 2017 at Peking Union Medical College Hospital were retrospectively reviewed. All patients underwent comprehensive ophthalmologic examination. Autofluorescence (AF) findings were described at the retinal sites of the corresponding lesions identified and diagnosed using indocyanine green angiography and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.

RESULTS

One hundred seventy patients with 192 affected eyes were included. The logMAR BCVA of the patients were 0.53 ± 0.28. The six AF patterns of 243 polypoidal lesions were confluent hypo-AF with hyper-AF ring (49.8%), confluent hypo-AF (22.6%), hyper-AF with hypo-AF ring (3.7%), granular hypo-AF (7.0%), blocked hypo-AF due to hemorrhage (8.6%), and polyps without apparent AF changes (8.2%). For 146 branching vascular networks (BVNs), 97.3% were granular hypo-AF, and others were blocked hypo-AF due to hemorrhage.

CONCLUSION

In eyes with treatment-naive and active PCV, the polypoidal lesions and BVNs induce characteristic FAF changes. FAF images provide reliable adjunct reference for the diagnosis of PCV.