Differences in macular morphology between polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and exudative age-related macular degeneration detected by optical coherence tomography

PURPOSE: To evaluate the differences in the optical coherence tomographically determined macular morphology in eyes with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) from eyes with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) quantitatively. METHODS: The medical records of 208 eyes of 203 Japanese patients with PCV or exudative AMD who were newly treated for choroidal neovascularization were reviewed. The six linear, low-resolution, high-speed scans of 6 mm were analyzed using a manually assisted computer algorithm, which allowed us to manually draw spline lines arbitrarily on the images so that the subretinal fluid and neurosensory retina could be segmented. The thickness of the neurosensory retina and height of the serous retinal detachment (SRD) within the central 3-mm and 6-mm areas were calculated. RESULTS: SRDs were observed in 53% (63/119) of the eyes with exudative AMD and in 78% (69/89) of the eyes with PCV (P < 0.001). The height of the SRD was 21.9 ± 3.7 μm (±SEMs) in eyes with exudative AMD and 56.3 ± 7.4 μm in eyes with PCV (P < 0.001). The thickness of the neurosensory retina was 300.0 ± 5.2 μm in eyes with exudative AMD and 275.8 ± 4.7 μm in eyes with PCV (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Eyes with PCV are characterized by a higher incidence of SRDs, greater SRD height, and less intraretinal edema than eyes with exudative AMD.