Paying attention to the concept and research of pachychoroid disease spectrum

Abstract

Pachychoroid disease spectrum is a novel concept in ophthalmology upon the development of ocular diagnosis and treatment.Recent breakthroughs and advancements in OCT imaging technology such as enhanced-depth imaging spectral-domain OCT (EDI-OCT) and swept source OCT (SS-OCT) have led to improvements in scanning speed, depth, scanning mode and software.This allows better and more detailed visualization of more posterior and deeper structures such as choroid or sclera.The newly developed EDI-OCT and SS-OCT provide a new basis for the diagnosis and classification of the retinal choroidal diseases.Pachychoroid disease spectrum, a group of chronic persistent choroidal thickening associated with a similar clinical phenotype and pathogenesis of disease were named recently based on higher spatial resolution and more detailed choroidal imaging captured by EDI-OCT or SS-OCT.Ophthalmologists should pay more attentions to this new concept and its relative information.In this paper, the concept, pathogenesis, and phenotype of pachychoroid disease spectrum are emphasized. Key words: Pachychoroid disease spectrum; Swept source OCT; Pathogenesis; Fundus images