Angiographic lesion size associated with LOC387715 A69S genotype in subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy

To investigate whether the LOC387715/ARMS2 variants are associated with an angiographic phenotype, including lesion size and composition, in subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Ninety-two subjects with symptomatic subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, whose visual acuity was from 0.1 to 0.5 on the Landolt chart, were genotyped for the LOC387715 polymorphism (rs10490924) using denaturing high-performance chromatography. The angiographic phenotype, including lesion composition and size, was evaluated by evaluators who were masked for the genotype. Lesion size was assessed by the greatest linear dimension based on fluorescein or indocyanine green angiography.

Although there was no statistically significant difference in lesion size on indocyanine green angiography (P = 0.36, Kruskal-Wallis test) and in lesion composition (P = 0.59, chi-square test) among the 3 genotypes, there was a statistically significant difference in lesion size on fluorescein angiography (P = 0.0022, Kruskal-Wallis test).

The LOC387715 A69S genotype is not associated with lesion composition or size on indocyanine green angiography but with lesion size on fluorescein angiography in patients with subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. Because fluorescein angiography findings represent secondary exudative changes, including subretinal hemorrhages and retinal pigment epithelial detachment, the results in the present study likely indicate that the T allele at the LOC387715 gene is associated with the exudative activity of polypoidal lesions.