Different imaging characteristics between unilateral and bilateral polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Abstract

To investigate the different imaging characteristics between unilateral and bilateral polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) cases, based on confocal scanning laser ophthalmoscope assessment. For this retrospective case series study, diagnostic indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were performed to assess the eligible PCV eyes. Among the 53 patients at baseline, 14 showed bilateral PCV lesions, including two cases of branching vessel network (BVN) without leakage. Concerning the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), unilateral PCV eyes (326 [155-547] μm) were statistically comparable to their fellow eyes (330 [163-477] μm) (p = 0.257). However, the SFCT (228[141-273] μm) from the bilateral PCV group was significantly lower compared with both the PCV (p = 0.002) and fellow eyes (p < 0.001) from the unilateral group. Moreover, ICGA related hyperfluorescent spots were shown to have a significant positive correlation with SFCT in the unilateral PCV eyes and their fellow eyes, other than bilateral PCV cases. In addition, the drusens tended to prevail in the fellow eyes of the unilateral PCV group (46.2%), compared with bilateral cases. Our results indicate that SFCT, ICGA related hyperfluorescent spots, and drusen were the three main imaging characteristic differences between unilateral and bilateral PCV cases.