Clinical Characteristics and Progression of Pachychoroid and Conventional Geographic Atrophy

Yukiko Sato, MD; Naoko Ueda-Arakawa, MD, PhD; Ayako Takahashi, MD, PhD; Masahiro Miyake, MD, PhD; Yuki Mori, MD, PhD; Yasunori Miyara, MD; Chikako Hara, MD, PhD; Yoko Kitajima, MD; Ruka Maruko, MD, PhD; Moeko Kawai, MD; Hajime Takahashi, MD, PhD; Hideki Koizumi, MD, PhD; Maiko Maruyama-Inoue, MD, PhD; Yasuo Yanagi, MD, PhD; Tomohiro Iida, MD, PhD; Kanji Takahashi, MD, PhD; Taiji Sakamoto, MD, PhD; Akitaka Tsujikawa, MD, PhD

Ophthalmology Science (Sep 2024)

Clinical Characteristics and Progression of Pachychoroid and Conventional Geographic Atrophy

Yukiko Sato, MD,
Naoko Ueda-Arakawa, MD, PhD,
Ayako Takahashi, MD, PhD,
Masahiro Miyake, MD, PhD,
Yuki Mori, MD, PhD,
Yasunori Miyara, MD,
Chikako Hara, MD, PhD,
Yoko Kitajima, MD,
Ruka Maruko, MD, PhD,
Moeko Kawai, MD,
Hajime Takahashi, MD, PhD,
Hideki Koizumi, MD, PhD,
Maiko Maruyama-Inoue, MD, PhD,
Yasuo Yanagi, MD, PhD,
Tomohiro Iida, MD, PhD,
Kanji Takahashi, MD, PhD,
Taiji Sakamoto, MD, PhD,
Akitaka Tsujikawa, MD, PhD

Affiliations

Yukiko Sato, MD: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
Naoko Ueda-Arakawa, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan; Correspondence: Naoko Ueda-Arakawa, MD, PhD (Kyoto Univ), Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, 54 Shogoinkawahara, Sakyo, Kyoto 606-8507, Japan.
Ayako Takahashi, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
Masahiro Miyake, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
Yuki Mori, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan
Yasunori Miyara, MD: Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan
Chikako Hara, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, Osaka University, Osaka, Japan
Yoko Kitajima, MD: Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
Ruka Maruko, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
Moeko Kawai, MD: Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
Hajime Takahashi, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Hideki Koizumi, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Graduate School of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Nishihara, Okinawa, Japan
Maiko Maruyama-Inoue, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Yokohama City University Medical Center, Yokohama, Japan
Yasuo Yanagi, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology and Micro-Technology, Yokohama City University, Yokohama, Japan
Tomohiro Iida, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Tokyo Women’s Medical University, Tokyo, Japan
Kanji Takahashi, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Kansai Medical University, Hirakata, Osaka, Japan
Taiji Sakamoto, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan
Akitaka Tsujikawa, MD, PhD: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Kyoto University Graduate School of Medicine, Kyoto, Japan

Journal volume & issue: Vol. 4, no. 5
p. 100528

Abstract

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Purpose: To elucidate the clinical characteristics and progression rates of pachychoroid and conventional geographic atrophy (GA). Design: Retrospective, multicenter, observational study. Participants: A total of 173 eyes from 173 patients (38 eyes with pachychoroid GA and 135 with conventional GA) from 6 university hospitals in Japan were included. All patients were Japanese, aged ≥50 years and with fundus autofluorescence images having analyzable image quality. A total of 101 eyes (22 with pachychoroid GA and 79 with conventional GA) were included in the follow-up group. Methods: The studied eyes were classified as having pachychoroid or conventional GA; the former was diagnosed if the eye had features of pachychoroid and no drusen. The GA area was semiautomatically measured on fundus autofluorescence images, and the GA progression rate was calculated for the follow-up group. Multivariable linear regression analysis was used to determine whether the rate of GA progression was associated with GA subtype. Main Outcome Measures: Clinical characteristics and progression rates of pachychoroid and conventional GA. Results: The pachychoroid GA group was significantly younger (70.3 vs. 78.7 years; P < 0.001), more male-dominant (89.5 vs. 55.6%; P < 0.001), and had better best-corrected visual acuity (0.15 vs. 0.40 in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution; P = 0.002), thicker choroid (312.4 vs. 161.6 μm; P < 0.001), higher rate of unifocal GA type (94.7 vs. 49.6%; P < 0.001), and smaller GA area (0.59 vs. 3.76 mm2; P < 0.001) than the conventional GA group. In the follow-up group, the mean GA progression rate (square-root transformation) was significantly lower in the pachychoroid GA group than in the conventional GA group (0.11 vs. 0.27 mm/year; P < 0.001). Conclusions: Demographic and ocular characteristics differed between GA subtypes. The progression rate of pachychoroid GA, adjusted for age and baseline GA area, was significantly lower than that of conventional GA. Japanese patients with conventional GA showed characteristics and progression rates similar to those in White populations. Some characteristics of GA in Japanese population differ from those in Waucasian populations, which may be due to the inclusion of pachychoroid GA. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.

Published in Ophthalmology Science

ISSN: 2666-9145 (Online)
Publisher: Elsevier
Country of publisher: United States
LCC subjects: Medicine: Ophthalmology
Website: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/ophthalmology-science/

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