Small, Hard Macular Drusen and Peripheral Drusen: Associations with AMD Genotypes in the Inter99 Eye Study

PURPOSE. To study associations of small, hard macular drusen and peripheral drusen with genotypes associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS. Digital grayscale fundus photographs recorded in red-free illumination were graded for the presence of drusen in 1107 subjects aged 30 to 66 years. Participants were genotyped for AMD-related polymorphisms in complement factor H (CFH), in LOC387715, and in complement factor B (CFB). RESULTS. The prevalence of 20 or more small, hard macular drusen per eye was 14%, with no association to the investigated polymorphisms. Peripheral drusen were associated with CFHY402H (odds ratio [OR], 4.3; 95% confidence interval [95% CI], 1.4-13, for CC versus TT genotypes) as was macular drusen >63 mu m (OR, 1.9; 95% CI, 1.1-3.1, for CC versus TT genotypes). Macular drusen >63 mu m were associated with the presence of 20 or more small, hard macular drusen (OR, 1.7; 95% CI, 1.1-2.6) and with peripheral drusen (OR, 2.5; 95% CI, 1.2-5.4) CONCLUSIONS. In this study, the presence of 20 or more small, hard macular drusen per eye was not associated with known AMD-related polymorphisms, whereas the study confirmed an association of peripheral drusen with CFHY402H. (ClinicalTrials.gov number, NCT00289237.) (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2010;51:2317-2321) DOI: 10.1167/iovs.09-4482