Balasubramanian S, et al. - The connection between the extent of macular drusen and specific choroidal parameters, with the inclusion of thickness and intensity, underwent an exploratory study. It was illustrated that the choroidal intensity probably exhibited a link with drusen volume in Amish and non-Amish populations. This was not the case for choroidal thickness. The choroidal parameters beyond thickness necessitated additional scrutiny in the setting of age-related macular degeneration.

Methods

• Images were extracted from the spectral domain optical coherence tomography images.
• They were obtained from two distinct, independent cohorts with nonneovascular age-related macular degeneration: Amish (53 eyes of 34 subjects) and non-Amish (40 eyes from 26 subjects).
• The scans were yielded via the Cirrus HD-OCT with a 512X128 macular cube (6X6 mm) protocol.
• The Cirrus advanced retinal pigment epithelium analysis tool automatically computed the drusen volume within 3 mm (DV3) and 5 mm (DV5) circles centered on the fovea.
• The inner and outer borders of the choroid underwent manual segmentation, and the mean choroidal thickness and choroidal intensity (i.e., brightness) were estimated.
• The choroidal intensity was normalized against the vitreous and nerve fiber layer reflectivity.
• An inspection was performed of the connection between DV and these choroidal parameters through the Pearson and linear regression analysis.

Results

• The normalized choroidal intensity and DV5 in the Amish (r = 0.42, P = 0.002) and non-Amish (r = 0.33, P = 0.03) cohorts exhibited a prominent positive tie-up.
• DV3 illustrated a substantial positive link with normalized choroidal intensity in both the groups (Amish: r = 0.30, P = 0.02; non-Amish: r = 0.32, P = 0.04).
• A negative association was determined between the choroidal thickness with normalized choroidal intensity in both Amish (r = -0.71, P = 0.001) and non-Amish (r = -0.43, P = 0.01) groups.
• Normalized choroidal intensity served as the most notable constant predictor of DV in both the Amish and non-Amish groups.