Low baseline BCVA may indicate increased risk of subretinal fibrosis in nAMD

The presence of intraretinal fluid (IRF) and subretinal hyperreflective material (SHRM), as well as low baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), are easily identifiable baseline parameters that may indicate increased risk for subretinal fibrosis (SF) in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD), according to a study.

In this study, 45 participants with treatment-naïve nAMD treated with standardized treat-and-extend protocol underwent optical coherence tomography (OCT), color fundus photography and fluorescein angiography, in addition to novel imaging modalities polarization-sensitive OCT and OCT angiography (OCTA), at baseline and 1 year after treatment.

Eight eyes (18%) developed SF after 1 year. At baseline, these eyes had worse baseline BCVA and a higher prevalence of IRF and SHRM.

Eyes with and without SF had no significant difference in any of the evaluated quantitative OCTA parameters. No quantitative baseline microvascular predictors for SF were found in this study.

Reference
Roberts PK, Schranz M, Motschi A, et al. Baseline predictors for subretinal fibrosis in neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Sci Rep. 2022 ;12(1):88. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-03716-8. PMID: 34996934.