OCT angiography of the choriocapillaris and choroid

Abstract

SummaryAge‐related macular degeneration (AMD) is a degenerative disease of the retina, in which the macula is most affected. In dry AMD, loss of vision occurs gradually and progresses to Geographic Atrophy (GA), a degeneration of the RPE and death of photoreceptor cells, leading to irreversible vision loss. Although the introduction of OCT allowed an additional step forward in understanding the major diseases of the macular region, the origin of the GA is almost unclear.The OCT Angiography (OCT‐A) enables distinct, depth resolved, three‐dimensional visualization of the retinal and choroidal microvasculature. The concept underlying OCT‐A is that in a static eye, the only moving structure in the fundus is blood, flowing in the vessels. The utilization of motion contrast differentiates OCT‐A from fluorescence angiography, which requires administration of intravenous markers such as fluorescein or indocyanine‐green.All this, is taking a leading role in the identification of perfusion abnormalities, of ischemic areas and retinal or choroidal neovascular lesions. Moreover it might also provide useful information on morphological and functional aspects of choroidal perfusion in GA, that could be partially responsible of such a severe disease.