[Pulsation in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy].

Purpose: To evaluate the relationship between pulsation and the fundus lesion in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).

Objective And Methods: We studied 26 eyes with PCV by indocyanine green angiography (IA) with a heidelberg retina angiograph(HRA). The 26 eyes were classified into two groups; pulsatile PCV and non-pulsatile PCV. We evaluated the strength and the amplitude of the pulsation, and the frequency of subretinal hemorrhage within one year after the first IA. Seven eyes in the pulsatile PCV group were tested by HRA twice or more to evaluate the relationship between the fundus lesion and the change in the strength and the amplitude of pulsation.

Results: Subretinal hemorrhage occurred in 9 of 14 eyes with pulsatile PCV and in 2 of 12 eyes with non-pulsatile PCV (odds ratio : 12.5). The possibility of subretinal hemorrhage was significantly higher in pulsatile PCV than in non-pulsatile PCV. In 3 of the 7 eyes tested twice or more, the fundus lesion worsened as the pulsation strengthened and the area of pulsation enlarged. In 1 of the 7 eyes, the fundus lesion improved as the pulsation weakened and the area of pulsation decreased.

Conclusion: There is a good possibility that strengthened and extended pulsation is related to increasing subretinal hemorrhage in PCV patients.