Subfoveal thickness of the choroid in the wet form of age-related macular degeneration

Currently, optical coherence tomography in enhanced image depth (EDI-OCT) mode is actively used in the diagnosis and prognosis of treatment of many eye pathologies, including age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Purpose. To assess the subfoveal thickness of the choroid in various types of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) accompanying the wet form of AMD. Material and methods. We examined 24 patients (27 eyes) with wet AMD, who had not previously received treatment. Depending on the type of CNV, the patients were divided into 4 groups: the first group – with occult; the second group – with the classic; the third group – with mixed; the fourth group – with retinal angiomatous proliferation. The control group included 25 people (35 eyes) without eye pathology. All patients underwent standard and specialized ophthalmological examinations. Results. During the morphometric analysis of the subfoveal thickness of the choroid in patients with wet AMD, a significant decrease was recorded relative to the control (p<0.05), except for the group with occult CNV. Conclusion. As a result of the study, changes in choroidal structures are noted with a decrease in the subfoveal thickness of the choroid in wet AMD, as well as in atrophic AMD. Also, when assessing this parameter for different types of CNV, a difference was noted in the eyes with a latent type. Further research is needed to analyze the subfoveal thickness of the choroid in wet AMD, due to the diagnostic and predictive value of this parameter. Key words: age-related macular degeneration, choroidal neovascularization, EDI-OCT, subfoveal thickness of the choroid