Open AccessNatural course of occult choroidal neovascularization in age‐related macular degeneration: development of classic lesions in fluorescein angiography
Author(s) -
Schneider Ulrike,
Gelisken Faik,
Inhoffen Werner
Publication year - 2005
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica scandinavica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1600-0420
pISSN - 1395-3907
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0420.2005.00443.x
Subject(s) - occult , choroidal neovascularization , medicine , macular degeneration , fluorescein angiography , ophthalmology , lesion , surgery , visual acuity , pathology , alternative medicine
. Purpose: To analyse the frequency of conversion from occult with no classic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and occult with minimally classic CNV into predominantly classic CNV secondary to age‐related macular degeneration.Methods: Retrospective evaluation of baseline and repeat angiograms of 54 eyes with a follow‐up of 6−12 months.Results: In the group with initially occult with no classic CNV, nine of 40 eyes (23%) progressed to a predominantly classic lesion, whereas in the group of occult with a minimally classic CNV, 10 of 14 eyes (71%) eyes developed a predominantly classic CNV.Conclusions: The proportion of eyes that develop predominantly classic CNV is much higher in eyes with initially occult and minimally classic CNV, compared with eyes with initially occult and no classic CNV. Our data suggest that the natural course of CNV secondary to AMD begins as occult and progresses to classic CNV.