ADVANTAGES OF OPTICAL COHERENCE TOMOGRAPHY AS A HIGH DYNAMIC RANGE IMAGING MODALITY IN SUBRETINAL HYPERREFLECTIVE...

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Medical Imaging
• Retinal Diseases

Background:

• Subretinal hyperreflective material (SHRM) is a key feature in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD).
• Accurate characterization of SHRM is crucial for understanding disease progression and treatment response.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the utility of high dynamic range optical coherence tomography (HDR-OCT) in characterizing SHRM.
• To correlate SHRM characteristics with visual acuity outcomes and structural changes in nAMD patients.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective review of OCT images from nAMD patients with SHRM.
• Classification of SHRM into hyperreflective (HyperR), isoreflective, and hyporeflective based on HDR-OCT.
• Assessment of SHRM changes, visual acuity, and fluid presence over 12 months.

Main Results:

• SHRM reflectivity varied, with hyporeflective SHRM disappearing fastest and HyperR SHRM persisting.
• Hyporeflective SHRM was associated with greater visual acuity improvement.
• Outer retinal layers were more frequently disrupted in the HyperR SHRM group.

Conclusions:

• HDR-OCT effectively classifies SHRM based on reflectivity, correlating with distinct clinical and structural outcomes.
• SHRM classification using HDR-OCT may serve as a prognostic biomarker in nAMD.