OCT Changes Observed during the Progression of Early Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose: Automated retinal cell layer segmentation empowers OCT as a precise tool for characterizing morphologic features of retinal health throughout age-related macular degeneration (AMD) progression, particularly in advance of more visible biomarkers such as drusen and macular pigmentary changes. Few studies have examined OCT changes in eyes progressing from early to intermediate disease, or combined examinations of cell layer thickness, reflectivity, and heterogeneity. Therefore, this study analyzed OCTs from eyes progressing from early to intermediate AMD to identify changes in retinal morphology and reflectivity that may serve as biomarkers of early progression.

Design: Retrospective cohort study.

Participants: Patients ≥50 years with a diagnosis of AMD and with high-quality ipsilateral OCTs in both early and intermediate stage disease.

Methods: Fifty OCTs from 25 patients were automatically segmented using a previously validated artificial intelligence-driven algorithm. Changes in the mean and standard deviation of cell layer thickness and reflectivity with progression through stages were calculated for 90 retinal volumes with the help of a novel Python-based analysis tool.

Main outcome measures: The primary outcomes were significant changes to cell layer thickness, reflectivity, and heterogeneity with progression of AMD.

Results: With progression from early to intermediate disease, photoreceptor outer segments diffusely thinned. Within the ellipsoid zone, the fovea and parafovea were thinned with a simultaneous increase in thickness variability and a decrease in parafoveal reflectivity. The retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch's membrane complex underwent diffuse thickening and increased thickness variability alongside a decrease in foveal and parafoveal reflectivity.

Conclusions: These findings correlate with the known histopathology of early AMD and identify measurable OCT trends through the earliest stages of disease.

Financial disclosures: Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.