Abstract

ObjectiveTo differentiate intraretinal fluid (IRF) cysts from degenerative pseudocysts in neovascular age-related macular degeneration by quantitative multimodal imaging. DesignObservational, cross-sectional. ParticipantsPatients affected by macular neovascularization (MNV) secondary to AMD. MethodsAll patients were analyzed by optical coherence tomography (OCT), optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) and dense ART (DART) OCTA. Newly onset cysts were considered IRF, whereas those cysts that were found to be persistent persistent for at least 3 months have been categorized as degenerative pseudocysts. Intraretinal cysts were automatically segmented to calculate cyst circularity. Peri-cyst space was quantitatively analyzed to assess the presence of perfusion signal and hyperreflective foci (HF). Main Outcome MeasuresBest-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), cyst circularity, peri-cyst perfusion, peri-cyst HF, fibrosis, outer retinal atrophy. ResultsWe analyzed 387 cysts collected from 35 eyes of 35 neovascular AMD patients (14 males; mean age 80±5 years). We classified 302 IRF cysts and 85 degenerative pseudocysts. IRF cysts were characterized by significantly higher circularity (0.86 (range 0.81-0.91), perfusion signal in the peri-cyst space and peri-cyst HF in 89% of cases (all p<0.05). Degenerative pseudocysts showed significantly lower circularity (0.68 (range 0.64-0.76), no perfusion signal in the peri-cyst space and peri-cyst HF only in 29% of cases (all p<0.05). The adopted quantitative metrics significantly correlated with disease duration, number of injections, fibrosis and outer retinal atrophy. ConclusionsIRF can be discriminated from degenerative pseudocysts by quantitative multimodal imaging approach. These findings resulted clinically relevant and should be included in future training models for artificial intelligence algorithms to improve the diagnostic power and the fluids monitoring in neovascular AMD.

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