Abstract
AimTo assess prevalence, clinical presentation and multimodal imaging characteristics of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) in a hospital-based setting in South India.MethodsElectronic medical records (EMR) of new patients presenting with suspected clinical signs of wet age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a tertiary hospital from January to December 2016 were retrospectively analyzed using keywords and filtered for patient who underwent multimodal imaging. Clinical presentations were categorized into predominantly hemorrhagic, exudative or mixed pattern. The imaging features were compared in these clinical groups. The multimodal images were graded by two masked graders and discrepancies between them were settled by a senior arbitrator.ResultsOf the 147 clinically suspicious cases of PCV out of 785 patients with clinical presentation of AMD as recorded in the EMR, 73 (49.7%) patients had a multimodal imaging diagnosis of PCV. There was no difference in the demography, distribution of polyps, ICGA and OCT characteristics in eyes presenting with hemorrhagic, exudative or mixed clinical features.ConclusionApproximately half of South Asian patients presenting with clinical features of neovascular AMD harbor PCV irrespective of their clinical presentation and so we recommend that multimodal imaging is done in all cases of suspicious neovascular AMD in Indian population.
Highlights
In contrast to epidemiological studies on age related macular degeneration (AMD), there are very few studies on population-based data on polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) due to the inherent difficulty of diagnosing the disease from fundus photographs alone [1]
There was no difference in the demography, distribution of polyps, indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) characteristics in eyes presenting with hemorrhagic, exudative or mixed clinical features
We have previously reported the prevalence of early or intermediate AMD to be ~ 21% in the rural Indian population and ~ 16% in the urban Indian population aged 60 years or more based on color fundus photographs
Summary
In contrast to epidemiological studies on age related macular degeneration (AMD), there are very few studies on population-based data on polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) due to the inherent difficulty of diagnosing the disease from fundus photographs alone [1]. The estimates of PCV prevalence can only be accurately derived from hospital based cross-sectional studies. These studies have shown a prevalence of 4% [2] to 54% [3] depending on the inclusion criteria, imaging modality and ethnic origin of the population. The prevalence of neovascular AMD is ~ 2% in the same rural and urban Indian populations [6]. ICGA was not done in any population-based studies from India and so the prevalence of PCV in India is unclear. The aim of the study was to elucidate the prevalence, demography, risk factors and imaging characteristics of PCV in a hospital-based South Indian population presenting with characteristic features of neovascular AMD
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
