IMAGING AND CLINICAL FEATURES OF PULSATILE POLYPOIDAL CHOROIDAL VASCULOPATHY

To investigate the imaging and clinical features of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) with pulsation.

The PCV eyes were classified into pulsatile and nonpulsatile PCV groups according to the pulsation on indocyanine green angiography. Imaging features including the dye filling time of the polyp and clinical features were compared.

A total of 75 eyes were classified into the pulsatile PCV (30 eyes) and the nonpulsatile PCV (45 eyes) groups. The initial filling time and complete filling time of the polyp of the pulsatile PCV group (2.59 ± 0.93 and 8.33 ± 3.42 seconds) were shorter than those of the nonpulsatile PCV group (4.11 ± 1.87 and 10.63 ± 3.81 seconds, P < 0.001 and P = 0.010, respectively). The pigment epithelial detachment height of the pulsatile PCV group (414.90 ± 377.15 µ m) was greater than that of the nonpulsatile PCV group (247.81 ± 164.07 µ m, P = 0.030). The pulsatile PCV group showed a higher prevalence of subretinal hemorrhage (43.33%) after intravitreal injection than the nonpulsatile PCV group (13.95%, P = 0.005) during 12 months. The mean number of injections during 12 months of the pulsatile PCV group (5.48 ± 1.46) was greater than that of the nonpulsatile PCV group (4.09 ± 1.21, P < 0.001).

Eyes with pulsatile PCV showed shorter filling time of the polyp, greater pigment epithelial detachment height, higher prevalence of subretinal hemorrhage, and more intravitreal injection numbers during 12 months. These might suggest that PCV has distinct imaging and clinical features according to the polyp pulsation.