Morphometrics of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy lesions and choroidal vascular associated with treatment response...

To evaluate quantitative metrics of neovascularization lesions and choroidal vascular using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) eyes, and investigate the relationship between imaging biomarkers and treatment outcomes of intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).

We retrospectively recruited 56 PCV patients. Choroidal features included subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and choroidal vascularity index (CVI). Quantitative metrics of neovascularization lesions included total vessel length (TVL), average vessel length (AVL), junction density (JD), total number of endpoints (TNE), and mean lacunarity (ML). We performed multivariate logistic and linear regression models to determine the prognostic factors for functional and morphological outcomes.

By comparison, functional good-responders had poorer best corrected visual acuity, higher TNE, and lower ML at baseline. Morphological good-responders had higher central retinal thickness, higher TNE, lower TVL and AVL, lower ML, lower SFCT and CVI. High-shrinkage of vessel area subgroup had higher JD and TNE, lower TVL and AVL, lower ML, lower SFCT and CVI. Multivariate analysis showed good morphological response was correlated with lower SFCT (P < 0.01). High-shrinkage subgroup was correlated with lower AVL (P = 0.017) and higher TNE (P < 0.01).

Quantitative metrics of neovascularization lesions and choroidal characteristics using SS-OCTA had the potential to be imaging biomarkers for predicting the response to anti-VEGF treatment. PCV lesions with higher TNE and lower AVL tended to appear higher shrinkage of vessel area, and lower SFCT was correlated with good morphological response.