Purpose: Myopic macular degeneration (MMD) can cause irreversible vision loss. Thinner choroid is associated with increased MMD severity. This cross-sectional study analyzed choriocapillaris (CC) alterations in MMD.
Methods: Axial length (AL), best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fundus photography, and swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA) were assessed in controls and high myopes (spherical equivalent ≤ -6 diopters). Myopic patients with grade 2 MMD (macular diffuse chorioretinal atrophy [MDCA]), high axial myopia (AL ≥ 26.5 mm), and BCVA ≥ 20/40 were compared with controls without MMD. CC mean thickness was measured from 3 × 3-mm SS-OCTA scans by identifying CC peaks in A-scan intensity profiles. CC flow deficit percent (CC FD%) was quantified using a fuzzy C-mean local thresholding method on en face OCTA images. Multivariate regressions compared CC thickness and CC FD% between myopic patients and controls, correcting for age and other confounders.
Results: Sixteen eyes with MDCA (AL, 26.96-33.93 mm; ages, 40-78 years) were compared with 51 control eyes (AL, 21.65-25.84 mm; ages, 19-88 years). CC thickness in patients with MDCA was 66% lower than that in controls (5.23 ± 0.68 µm [mean ± SD] vs. 15.46 ± 1.82 µm; P < 0.001). CC FD% in patients with MDCA was 237% greater than in controls (26.5 ± 4.3 vs. 11.2 ± 4.6; P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Patients with MDCA with good visual acuity had thinner CC and increased CC FD%, or reduced CC flow, compared with controls. Patients with grade 2 MMD and good visual acuity demonstrated significant choriocapillaris alterations, suggesting that choriocapillaris perfusion defects contribute to the pathogenesis of MMD.
Translational relevance: Given the potential vascular etiology for MMD, current research about revascularization of ischemic retina likely has implications for the treatment of MMD.