Real-color versus pseudo-color imaging of fibrotic scars in exudative age-related macular degeneration

Purpose: To compare the morphological characteristics of subretinal fibrosis in late age-related macular degeneration using multicolor (MC) imaging, color fundus photography (CFP), and ultra-widefield CFP (UWFCFP). Methods: Thirty-two eyes of 31 patients diagnosed with subretinal fibrosis complicating exudative age-related macular degeneration were included. Included eyes were imaged by MC, CFP, and UWFCFP. The overall ability to visualize fibrosis, its margins, and dissimilarity with surrounding atrophy was graded using a score (0: not visible, 1: barely visible, 2: mostly visible, and 3: fully visible) by two readers. Area of fibrosis was calculated. Scaling, lesion colocalization on all three imaging techniques, and area measurements were performed using ImageJ. Results: Ninety-six images of 32 eyes were graded. The average area of fibrosis was 14.59 ± 8.94 mm2 for MC, 13.84 ± 8.56 mm2 for CFP, and 13.76 ± 8.79 mm2 for UWFCFP. Fibrosis was fully visible in 87.5% of cases using MC and 50% using CFP and UWFCFP. Fibrosis' margins were sharply defined in 40.6% of eyes with MC, 15.6% and 9.4% with CFP and UWFCFP, respectively. Multicolor imaging provided superior distinction between fibrosis and atrophy (100% for MC vs. 13.4% for CFP and 33.3% for UWFCFP). The inter- and intra-reader agreement was high for all measurements (P
Source: RETINA - Category: Opthalmology Tags: Original Study Source Type: research