Purpose: To investigate the clinical characteristics of eyes with cuticular drusen in Japanese individuals, while paying special attention to large colloid drusen (LCD).
Study design: Retrospective case series.
Methods: Eyes with cuticular drusen, from patients of 4 medical institutes in Japan, were investigated. Multimodal imaging findings were used to diagnose cuticular drusen. LCD was defined as cuticular drusen > 200 µm.
Results: Twenty-four eyes from 12 patients (8 women, 4 men) were diagnosed with cuticular drusen. The mean age of all patients (n = 12) was 60.8 years. The mean age of patients without additional macular pathology (n = 5) was 55.4 years. Of the 7 patients with additional macular pathology, 6 (85.7%) exhibited age-related macular degeneration-associated macular pathology, including drusenoid pigment epithelial detachment (PED) (8 eyes from 4 patients), geographic atrophy (2 eyes from 1 patient), and occult choroidal neovascularization (1 eye). LCD were found in 6 eyes of 3 patients (25%), those with LCD were on average 53.7 ± 8.7 years old and those without 69.9 ± 14.1 years of age (P = 0.064, Mann-Whitney U test).
Conclusions: Cuticular drusen were predominantly seen in females, and drusenoid PED was most frequently seen in eyes with additional macular pathology. LCD were seen in 25% of eyes with cuticular drusen.
Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; Cuticular drusen; Drusenoid pigment epithelial detachment; Large colloid drusen.