CORRELATION BETWEEN ATROPHY-TRACTION-NEOVASCULARIZATION GRADE FOR MYOPIC MACULOPATHY AND CLINICAL SEVERITY

To assess the reliability of the atrophy-traction-neovascularization (ATN) classification in patients with pathologic myopia (PM) and its correlation with best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).

Cross-sectional study. Hundred highly myopic eyes with a spherical equivalent of >-6.0 diopters or axial length of >26 mm and a total ATN score of ≥3 underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, including fundus photography and swept-source optical coherence tomography. Five observers graded each eye using the ATN system. Mean A, T, and N scores were calculated and correlated with age, BCVA (in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution), and axial length. Patients were considered to present severe PM if either A or T components were ≥3 and/or N was ≥2.

Hundred eyes (53 left) from 91 patients (78 women) were classified. Mean age, BCVA, and axial length values were, respectively, 65.1 ± 11.7 years (range, 36-97 years), -0.63 ± 0.62 (-3.00 to 0.00), and 29.26 ± 2.7 mm (26.01-37.66 mm). Mean ATN grades for each component were as follows: A = 2.51 ± 0.78 (0.6-4.0), T = 0.88 ± 1.14 (0.0-5.0), and N = 1.31 ± 1.40 (0.0-3.0). Weighted interobserver agreement was 98.1%, 98.7%, and 94.6%, for A, T and N, respectively. In eyes with severe PM, BCVA was significantly lower and axial length was significantly longer.

The excellent interobserver rate in this study demonstrates that the updated ATN grading system is an accurate and reliable tool to classify patients with PM. These findings show that BCVA is more compromised in eyes with severe PM, particularly those graded ≥A3 and/or T3.