Optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiomatous prolifieration (RAP) in retinal

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging

Background:

• Exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss.
• Retinal angiomatous proliferations (RAP) are a subtype of wet AMD characterized by abnormal blood vessel growth.
• Accurate diagnosis of RAP is crucial for effective treatment and management.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the diagnostic utility of optical coherence tomography (OCT) for identifying retinal angiomatous proliferations (RAP).
• To compare OCT findings with fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green videoangiography (ICGA) in patients with exudative AMD and RAP.

Main Methods:

• OCT cross-sections were obtained from 41 eyes of 39 patients diagnosed with AMD and RAP.
• The presence and location of angiomatous complexes were previously confirmed using FA and ICGA.

Main Results:

• OCT successfully detected RAP in all 41 eyes as a focal hyper-reflecting area within the neuroretinal layers.
• RAP was frequently located near the retinal pigment epithelium (70.7%), often accompanied by serous intraretinal edema.
• OCT identified pigment epithelium detachment in 75.6% of eyes, without evidence of choroidal neovascularization.

Conclusions:

• OCT findings confirm the intraretinal localization of RAP and their association with exudative phenomena.
• OCT serves as a valuable diagnostic tool, providing complementary information to FA and ICGA for diagnosing RAP in exudative AMD.