Does the Outer Retinal Thickness Around Geographic Atrophy Represent Another Clinical Biomarker for Predicting Growth?

Abstract

To determine whether the outer retinal layer (ORL) thickness around geographic atrophy (GA) could serve as a clinical biomarker to predict the annual enlargement rate (ER) of GA. Retrospective analysis of a prospective, observational case series. Eyes with GA were imaged with a swept-source OCT 6×6 mm scan pattern. GA lesions were measured from customized en face OCT images and the annual ERs were calculated. The ORL was defined and segmented from the inner boundary of outer plexiform layer (OPL) to the inner boundary of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) layer. The ORL thickness was measured at different subregions around GA. A total of 38 eyes from 27 participants were included. The same eyes were used for the choriocapillaris (CC) flow deficit (FD) analysis and the RPE to the Bruch membrane (RPE-BM) distance measurements. A negative correlation was observed between the ORL thickness and the GA growth. The ORL thickness in a 300-μm rim around GA showed the strongest correlation with the GA growth (r=-0.457, P=.004). No correlations were found between the ORL thickness and the CC FDs; however, a significant correlation was found between the ORL thickness and the RPE-BM distances around GA (r=-0.398, P=.013). ORL thickness showed a significant negative correlation with annual GA growth, but also showed a significant correlation with the RPE-BM distances, suggesting that they were dependently correlated with GA growth. This finding suggests that the loss of photoreceptors was associated with the formation of basal laminar deposits around GA.