Clinical Optometry (Mar 2018)
Spotlight on fundus autofluorescence
Abstract
Ana M Calvo-Maroto,1 Alejandro Cerviño2 1Department of Ophthalmology, Clínica Universidad de Navarra, University of Navarra, Madrid, Spain; 2Optometry Research Group, Department of Optics and Optometry and Vision Sciences, University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain Abstract: Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) imaging is based on the fluorescence from ocular endogenous fluorophores located in the retinal pigment epithelium and choroid, mainly lipofuscin and melanin. It is a noninvasive technique that provides information about the spatial distribution of lipofuscin/melanin and retinal pigment epithelium health status. An overview about the fluorophores responsible for FAF imaging and the usefulness of FAF imaging in the noninvasive assessment and monitoring of retinal diseases, such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, central serous chorioretinopthy, retinitis pigmentosa and retinal dystrophies, are discussed in this review. Keywords: fundus autofluorescence, short-wavelength fundus autofluorescence, near-infrared fundus autofluorescence, lipofuscin, melanin
