Peripheral retinal and choroidal thickness of eyes with reticular pseudodrusen

This study aimed to investigate the peripheral retinal and choroidal thicknesses in eyes with reticular pseudodrusen (RPD).

Imaging data of ultrawide-field swept-source optical coherence tomography taken from 40 patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were analyzed. Thirty-nine eyes of 20 patients had RPD (RPD group) and 39 eyes of 20 patients had no RPD (control group). Eyes with RPD were divided into localized/intermediate and diffuse types according to the fundus distribution. The retinal and choroidal thicknesses were measured at the fovea and six peripheral points in each eye, and the results were statistically analyzed.

The mean ages were 78.0 ± 6.1 years in the RPD group and 74.4 ± 7.2 years in the control group. The RPD group showed a thinner retina only at the nasal point (p = 0.002) than the control group. The choroid was significantly thinner in the RPD group than in the control group at most peripheral points, except for the far temporal and far inferior points. Diffuse and localized/intermediate types of RPD eyes showed no significant difference in choroidal thickness, except at the nasal point, which was thinner in the diffuse type (p = 0.049).

In eyes with RPD, most peripheral retinal thicknesses were not different from those of eyes with AMD without RPD; however, most peripheral choroidal thicknesses were thinner regardless of the fundus distribution status of the RPD. Nasal choroidal thickness may be associated with RPD severity.