Two-year course of subfoveal pigment epithelial detachment in eyes with age-related macular degeneration and visual acuity better than 20/40.

Purpose: To investigate the course of subfoveal pigment epithelial detachments (PEDs) in eyes with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) ≥20/40.

Methods: Thirty-seven eyes of 35 patients with a subfoveal PED were divided into an avascular PED group (n = 11), a vascularized PED group due to polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV, n = 14) and an occult choroidal neovascularization (CNV) group (n = 12). Intravitreal bevacizumab or ranibizumab was given as needed. The BCVA, central foveal thickness, PED thickness, and lesion size were measured at baseline and at 2 years after the initial examination.

Results: The BCVA did not change significantly in the avascular group, decreased from 0.06 ± 0.11 to 0.23 ± 0.15 logMAR units in the PCV group and from 0.12 ± 0.12 to 0.71 ± 0.70 logMAR units in the CNV group. At 2 years, the central foveal and PED thicknesses were not significantly different among the 3 groups, and the lesion was significantly larger in the PCV and CNV groups than in the avascular group.

Conclusions: The vascularized PED cases had a poorer visual outcome than avascular PEDs with anti-VEGF drugs at the 2-year follow-up.