Assessment of progression of exudative amd in the other eyes of patients follow-up of pati̇ents with exudative amd in one eye and qui̇escent choroidal neovascular membrane in the other eye with oct and octa

PURPOSE: To evaluate the importance of optical coherence tomography (OCT) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) in the early detection of progression of exudative AMD in patients with exudative choroidal neovascular membrane in one eye and quiescent choroidal neovascular membrane in the other eye. METHODS: Patients with exudative AMD in one eye and nonexudative AMD in the other eye without any other additional eye pathology were included. Patients underwent a ophthalmologic examination including spectral-domain OCT (central macular thickness, subfoveal choroidal thickness, CNVM type, ELM and ISOS (inner and outer segment of photoreceptors) integrity, pigment epithelium detachments (PED) vertical and horizontal diameter and hyperreflective dots) and spectral-domain OCT-A (cnvm selected area , choriocapillaris flow area , dark halo ) was used. During the follow-up, they were divided into 2 groups depending on the progression to exudative choroidal neovascularization. Group 1: 8 eyes with quiescent CNVM without progression, group 2, 11 patients with progression. Clinical, OCT and OCTA findings between the groups were compared. OCT and OCTA parameters of all eyes during the follow-up were evaluated and these parameters were compared. The presence of intraretinal and subretinal fluid in OCT sections was defined as an progression criterion. RESULTS: Exudative CNVM in one eye and quiescent CNVM in the other eye were detected in 19 (25%) of 76 patients. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of initial clinical findings (age, gender, intraocular pressure, central macular thickness, spherical equivalent). When all OCT and OCTA findings were evaluated, the hyperreflective dots (p<0.005) in OCT, choroidal neovascular membrane flow area and black halo (p<0.005) in OCTA were found to be statistically significant. Choroidal neovascular membrane area and flow area (p<0.005) were found to be statistically significant in group 2 with progression. CONCLUSION: In conclusion, OCT and OCTA are usefull instruments in the detection, follow-up and assessment of the progression of quiescent CNVMs. Various markers such as hyperreflective dots and the presence of a dark halo in OCTA can in terms to guide the progression of cnvm. Prospective studies with larger sample size is needed to strengthen our data. KEYWORDS: Quiescent choroidal neovascular membranes, OCT, OCTA, Age-related macular degeneration