Skip to main content

  • Consensus group links OCT features to risk of geographic atrophy development

    Retina/Vitreous

    Add to My Bookmarks

    Review of: Imaging features associated with progression to geographic atrophy in age-related macular degeneration. Classification of Atrophy Meeting Report 5

    Jaffe G, Chakravarthy U, Freund K, et al. Ophthalmology Retina, September 2021

    Features of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) on OCT were assessed at an international consensus meeting to determine which might convey an increased risk of geographic atrophy (GA) development.

    Study design

    The Classification of Atrophy Meetings group, a panel of international experts who convene to review features of various imaging modalities in AMD and develop a series of consensus definitions supported with grading exercises, met in January 2019 to discuss features seen with OCT that were associated with GA. Some of these features included AMD progression to GA.

    Outcomes

    The OCT imaging features that were found to potentially confer risk for development of drusen-associated GA included external limiting membrane descent, subretinal drusenoid deposits, hyperreflective foci and crystalline deposits, outer plexiform layer subsidence, and drusen with hyporeflective cores.

    Limitations

    The investigators acknowledge that the study did not attempt to quantify the risk with various imaging features, and that it serves as a framework for future investigation. The applicability of the consensus of this conference of experts to individual clinicians’ use of imaging has not been studied.

    Clinical significance

    This attempt to develop consensus definitions for imaging features and predictors of GA may help to standardize and facilitate natural history studies and clinical trials. It may also aid clinicians in characterizing patients’ risk for GA.