Sadeghi Elham, Schulman Anne, Vupparaboina Sharat Chandra, Singh Sumit Randhir, Hasan Nasiq, Bollepalli Sandeep Chandra, Vupparaboina Kiran Kumar, Sahel Jose Alain, Eller Andrew W, Chhablani Jay
University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA, USA.
Wichita State University, School of Computing, Wichita, KS, USA.
Eye (Lond). 2025 May 15. doi: 10.1038/s41433-025-03847-6.
To assess retinal vascular perfusion and choroidal vascularity biomarkers correlated with drusen volume and severity of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Patients underwent swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) (PlexElite-9000). Eyes with geographic atrophy or neovascular AMD were excluded. Retinal thickness, retinal perfusion including superficial (SCP) and deep capillary plexuses (DCP), foveal avascular zone (FAZ), drusen volume, choroidal thickness (ChT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI) were assessed through the Advanced Research and Innovation Network. Linear mixed model and Spearman test were used for statistical analysis.
We assessed 81 eyes from 57 subjects (34 early-stage, 47 intermediate-stage AMD). The mean age was 74.95 ± 8.79 years. The mean LogMar visual acuity (VA) was 0.16 ± 0.18 (early-stage: 0.12 ± 0.17, intermediate-stage: 0.19 ± 0.18, P = 0.122). Between early and intermediate AMD, no significant differences were seen in SCP and DCP vascular perfusion (P = 0.368, 0.859, respectively), FAZ (p = 0.836) and retinal thickness within the 6-mm area (P = 0.680). Drusen volume showed a significant difference (early-stage: 0.0706 ± 0.1272, intermediate-stage: 0.2102 ± 0.2211mm, P < 0.01). Intermediate-stage AMD had significantly lower mean ChT (266.40 ± 115.55 vs. 204.97 ± 70.69 µm, P = 0.038) and CVI (0.605 ± 0.021 vs. 0.591 ± 0.015, P = 0.004) within the 5-mm area. Drusen volume was negatively correlated with ChT (r = -0.198, P = 0.017) and CVI (r = -0.209, P = 0.029). No significant correlation was found between drusen volume and VA (r = 0.051, P = 0.143), retinal thickness (-0.03, P = 0.393), FAZ (r = -0.023, P = 0.150), SCP (r = -0.011, P = 0.307), and DCP (r = -0.022, P = 0.190).
Drusen volume, a key AMD severity marker, correlates more strongly with choroidal parameters like ChT and CVI than retinal thickness and perfusion. It may serve as a biomarker for dry AMD severity, with choroidal biomarkers showing earlier disease changes.
评估与玻璃膜疣体积及年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）严重程度相关的视网膜血管灌注和脉络膜血管生成生物标志物。
患者接受扫频光学相干断层扫描血管造影（SS-OCTA）（PlexElite-9000）检查。排除患有地图样萎缩或新生血管性AMD的眼睛。通过高级研究与创新网络评估视网膜厚度、视网膜灌注，包括浅层（SCP）和深层毛细血管丛（DCP）、黄斑无血管区（FAZ）、玻璃膜疣体积、脉络膜厚度（ChT）和脉络膜血管生成指数（CVI）。采用线性混合模型和Spearman检验进行统计分析。
我们评估了57名受试者的81只眼睛（34只早期、47只中期AMD）。平均年龄为74.95±8.79岁。平均LogMar视力（VA）为0.16±0.18（早期：0.12±0.17，中期：0.19±0.18，P = 0.122）。在早期和中期AMD之间，SCP和DCP血管灌注（分别为P = 0.368、0.859）、FAZ（P = 0.836）以及6毫米区域内的视网膜厚度（P = 0.680）均无显著差异。玻璃膜疣体积存在显著差异（早期：0.0706±0.1272，中期：0.2102±0.2211mm，P < 0.01）。中期AMD在5毫米区域内的平均ChT（266.40±115.55对204.97±70.69µm，P = 0.038）和CVI（0.605±0.021对0.591±0.015，P = 0.004）显著更低。玻璃膜疣体积与ChT（r = -0.198，P = 0.017）和CVI（r = -0.209，P = 0.029）呈负相关。玻璃膜疣体积与VA（r = 0.051，P = 0.143）、视网膜厚度（-0.03，P = 0.393）、FAZ（r = -0.023，P = 0.150）、SCP（r = -0.011，P = 0.307）和DCP（r = -0.022，P = 0.190）之间未发现显著相关性。
玻璃膜疣体积作为AMD严重程度的关键标志物，与ChT和CVI等脉络膜参数的相关性比与视网膜厚度和灌注的相关性更强。它可能作为干性AMD严重程度的生物标志物，脉络膜生物标志物显示出更早的疾病变化。
