POLYPOIDAL CHOROIDAL VASCULOPATHY FEATURES VARY ACCORDING TO SUBFOVEAL CHOROIDAL THICKNESS

Purpose: To evaluate associations between choroidal thickness and features of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) lesions based on multimodal imaging. Methods: This cross-sectional analysis included treatment-naive PCV eyes from a prospectively recruited observational cohort. Associations between of subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT) and qualitative and quantitative morphologic features of PCV lesions on color fundus photographs, indocyanine green and fluorescein angiography, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography were evaluated. Results: We included 100 eyes with indocyanine green angiography-proven PCV. Subfoveal choroidal thickness showed a bimodal distribution with peaks at 170 mu m and 350 mu m. There was a significant linear increase in the total lesion area (P-trend = 0.028) and the polypoidal lesion area (P-trend = 0.030 and P-continuous = 0.037) with increasing SFCT. Pairwise comparisons between quartiles showed that the total lesion area (4.20 +/- 2.61 vs. 2.89 +/- 1.43 mm(2), P = 0.024) and the polypoidal lesion area (1.03 +/- 1.01 vs. 0.59 +/- 0.45 mm(2), P = 0.042) are significantly larger in eyes in Q4 (SFCT >= 350 mu m) than eyes in Q1 (SFCT <= 170 mu m). Although there was no significant linear trend relating SFCT to best-corrected visual acuity, pairwise comparisons showed that eyes in Q4 (SFCT >= 350 mu m) have significantly worse vision (0.85 +/- 0.63 vs. 0.55 +/- 0.27 logMAR, P = 0.030) than eyes in Q2 (SFCT 170-260 mu m). Conclusion: Total lesion areas and polypoidal lesion areas tend to be larger in eyes with increasing SFCT. Choroidal background may influence the phenotype or progression pattern of PCV.

Automated summary

This study found that in PCV lesions, there is a significant linear increase in total lesion area and polypoidal lesion area with increasing subfoveal choroidal thickness.