Characteristics of Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy Evaluated by Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the angiographic findings of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) detected by indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and en face optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).

Methods: The study design was a retrospective chart review of 20 eyes with a clinical diagnosis of treatment-naive PCV, seen at Nagoya City University Hospital between December 2014 and January 2016. Indocyanine green angiography was performed with Heidelberg Retina Angiography 2 and OCTA was performed by using Avanti RTVue XR.

Results: Twenty eyes of 20 patients (18 male, 2 female) were studied. Average age was 71.9 years. Manual segmentation was required to detect the pathologic lesions of PCV in all cases. The polypoidal lesions were detected in 20 eyes (100%) by ICGA, and in 17 eyes (85%) by OCTA. The number of polypoidal lesions detected by OCTA averaged 2.6 ± 1.9, with an average of 2.0 ± 1.1 by ICGA (P < 0.05). The branching vascular network (BVN) was detected in 14 eyes (70%) by ICGA and in 14 eyes (70%) by OCTA. All of the BVNs detected by OCTA were located between the RPE and Bruch's membrane.

Conclusions: Despite the manual segmentation required, en face OCTA enabled us to analyze the angiographic features of PCV combined with longitudinal image (B-scan). En face OCTA may be useful for understanding the pathogenesis of PCV and managing PCV.