2Dr., Zonguldak Bulent Ecevit University, Department of Ophthalmology, Zonguldak, Türkiye DOI : 10.37845/ret.vit.2023.32.42 Purpose: To evaluate the choroidal structural changes in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD) patients treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injection over a 3-month period.
Materials and Methods: Medical records of 28 eyes with treatment-naïve nAMD were retrospectively analyzed before and after 3 monthly intravitreal injections of bevacizumab. Central macular thickness and subfoveal choroidal thickness were measured from enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) scans. The ImageJ software was used to binarize OCT scans and measure the total choroid area (TCA), luminal area (LA), and stromal area (SA). The choroidal vascularity index (CVI) was calculated as the ratio of LA to TCA.
Results: After treatment, there were decreases in means of CMT (from 425.3 ± 136.0 to 341.6 ± 107.1 ?m, p<0,001), SFCT (from 186.3 ± 67.6 to 172.7 ± 64.4 ?m, p=0,02), and CVI (from 66.8 ± 6.7% to 64.3 ± 4.7%, p<0,01). No significant changes were observed in TCA (0.247 ± 0.09 vs 0.242 ± 0.08 mm2, p=0.15), LA (0.163 ± 0.05 vs 0.156 ± 0.05 mm2, p=0.052), and SA (0.083 ± 0.03 vs 0.086 ± 0.03 mm2, p=0.27).
Conclusion: Significant decline in SFCT and CVI after treatment demonstrates that bevacizumab affects choroidal vascular structures besides retinal layers in eyes with nAMD.
Keywords : Age-related macular degeneration, Anti-VEGF, Bevacizumab, Choroidal vascularity index, Optical coherence tomography