Assessment of the effects of morphological changes related to age-related macular degeneration on optical coherence tomography retinal thickness measurements.

Background And Objective: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) leads to morphological changes that can interfere with optical coherence tomography retinal thickness measurements. The effects of AMD on two available retinal thickness scan modes were tested.

Patients And Methods: Ninety-four scans, equally divided into Radial Line Scans (RLS) and Fast Macula Scans (FMS), of 42 patients with AMD were reviewed. Patients were graded into 4 categories regarding AMD severity. Each scan mode was evaluated for each AMD category.

Results: In dry moderate AMD, 2% of the RLS and 5% of the FMS thickness measurements failed. In dry progressed AMD, the RLS mode performed better (26% failure rate) than the FMS mode (42% failure rate). However, in exudative AMD the FMS mode performed better (6% failure rate) than the RLS mode (28% failure rate). The difference between the RLS and FMS performance in dry progressed AMD compared with exudative AMD was significant (P < .0001).

Conclusion: The optical coherence tomography retinal thickness scan modes perform differently, depending on AMD severity. Retinal thickness algorithms with better performance are needed to facilitate measurements in patients with AMD.