Dataset Information

Functional Relevance and Structural Correlates of Near Infrared and Short Wavelength Fundus Autofluorescence Imaging in ABCA4-Related Retinopathy.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

To evaluate the functional relevance and structural correlates of autofluorescence (AF) alterations under short-wavelength (SW) and near-infrared (NIR) excitation light in ABCA4-related retinopathy.

Methods

In this prospective, cross-sectional case series, 88 eyes of 44 patients with ABCA4-related retinopathy (mean age, 37.6 years; range, 9-77 years) underwent SW-AF and NIR-AF imaging. The AF images were graded for disease characteristic patterns by two independent readers and correlated with alterations in optical coherence tomography (OCT) and impairment of retinal sensitivity along a foveo-papillary line assessed by fundus-controlled microperimetry.

Results

A centrifugal sequence of AF patterns from atrophic lesions to homogeneous background was found for both AF modalities. The eccentricity of each AF pattern in NIR-AF was larger compared to those in SW-AF (P < 0.001). Increasing eccentricity of each pattern correlated with increasing retinal sensitivity. The distant border of the zone of hyperfluorescent flecks in SW-AF and hypoautofluorescent flecks in NIR-AF correlated with the margins of the ellipsoid zone loss in OCT (r = 0.979 and r = 0.971, P < 0.001). The expansion of hypofluorescent flecks in SW-AF was associated with the boundaries of external limiting membrane loss (r = 0.933, P < 0.001).

Conclusions

SW-AF and NIR-AF revealed a characteristic sequence of AF patterns that correlated with functional and structural alterations, suggesting different stages in disease progression.

Translational relevance

Alterations in NIR-AF exceeded those in SW-AF images, substantiating the hypothesis of different AF origins and suggesting NIR-AF as surrogate marker for early disease-related changes.

SUBMITTER: Muller PL

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6927733 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Functional Relevance and Structural Correlates of Near Infrared and Short Wavelength Fundus Autofluorescence Imaging in <i>ABCA4</i>-Related Retinopathy.

Müller Philipp L PL Birtel Johannes J Herrmann Philipp P Holz Frank G FG Charbel Issa Peter P Gliem Martin M

Translational vision science & technology 20191101 6

<h4>Purpose</h4>To evaluate the functional relevance and structural correlates of autofluorescence (AF) alterations under short-wavelength (SW) and near-infrared (NIR) excitation light in <i>ABCA4</i>-related retinopathy.<h4>Methods</h4>In this prospective, cross-sectional case series, 88 eyes of 44 patients with <i>ABCA4</i>-related retinopathy (mean age, 37.6 years; range, 9-77 years) underwent SW-AF and NIR-AF imaging. The AF images were graded for disease characteristic patterns by two indep ...[more]

PMID: 31879568

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