To describe OCTA features of PCNV secondary to age-related macular degeneration.

A retrospective consecutive series of 51 patients with a diagnosis of PCNV, based on clinical and multimodal imaging, was analysed. All patients with PCNV underwent a comprehensive ophthalmological examination, including fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography, structural OCT and OCTA. Two blinded retinal specialists carefully reviewed OCTA slabs in order to assess the morphological patterns of PCNV lesions. Furthermore, fractal analysis of PCNV en face images on OCTA, including VPD, FD and LAC, was performed.

Fifty-one PCNV eyes were included in the study. In all, the branching vascular network appeared hyper-reflective. In 67% eyes, they corresponded to hypo-reflective structures, whereas in the remaining 33% eyes, they appeared as hyper-reflective lesions. In all PCNV eyes, mean VPD, FD and LAC were 0.76±0.17%, 1.46±0.12 and 2.4±0.87, respectively. No significant difference was found between PCNVs showing a different OCTA pattern, in terms of quantitative OCTA parameters.

The study concluded that the fractal analysis provides quantitative parameters demonstrating that PCNVs with different OCTA patterns share the same neovascular architecture and branching complexity. These new findings improve our ability to interpret OCTA slabs, opening new areas of discussion about this type of neovascular lesion.

Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/09/09/bjophthalmol-2020-317011

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