Evaluating Retinal Angiomatous Proliferation With Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Vascular Biology

Background:

• Retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) is a condition affecting the retina.
• Current imaging techniques like fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) have limitations in visualizing RAP.
• Optical coherence tomography (OCT) and OCT angiography (OCTA) offer advanced imaging capabilities.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the imaging characteristics of different stages of retinal angiomatous proliferation (RAP) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
• To compare OCTA findings with those from FA, ICGA, and OCT.
• To evaluate OCTA's utility in monitoring RAP lesions over time.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 12 eyes from 12 patients diagnosed with RAP.
• All patients underwent FA, ICGA, OCT, and OCTA at baseline.
• Follow-up OCTA was performed after anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.

Main Results:

• OCTA successfully identified RAP "hot spot" lesions in 100% of cases, correlating with FA/ICGA findings.
• OCTA provided clearer visualization of lesion location and feeder vessel relationships compared to FA/ICGA.
• Post-anti-VEGF treatment OCTA showed reduced lesion size and vascularity.

Conclusions:

• OCTA is a noninvasive, rapid imaging modality that surpasses FA and ICGA in detailing RAP lesions and associated microvasculature.
• OCTA is a valuable tool for the follow-up and management of patients with RAP.
• OCTA imaging patterns contribute to understanding the pathology of RAP.