Assessment of macular function in patients with non-vascularized pigment epithelial detachment

Abstract

Non-vascularized pigment epithelial detachments (PED) are usually associated with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, we aimed to investigate the correlation between visual function and morphologic parameters. Seventeen eyes of eleven patients with non-vascularized AMD were enrolled. In addition to conventional optical coherence tomography (OCT), polarization-sensitive optical coherence tomography (PS-OCT) measurements were performed by evaluating the regularity of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) entropy within the PED area. Retinal sensitivity was measured with MP-3 microperimetry, and retinal sensitivities within (RSin) and outside (RSout) the PED area were calculated. The relationship between OCT parameters and visual function was analyzed. As a result, there was a significant difference between the RSin and RSout (p < 0.001, Wilcoxon signed rank test). Moreover, RSin was significantly related to logMAR VA (p = 0.033, linear mixed model). The regularity of RPE entropy was significantly related to visual acuity and RSin (p = 0.00038, p = 0.031, linear mixed model), although neither the height nor area of PED correlated with visual function. Our results suggest that retinal sensitivity is significantly deteriorated within the PED area and RPE entropy measured with PS-OCT was closely related to visual function in eyes with non-vascularized PED.