Background and objective: To determine the association between retinal pigment epithelium elevation and maximum retinal thickness in patients with age-related macular degeneration.
Patients and methods: Fifteen patients (mean age = 76 +/- 8 years) with age-related macular degeneration and pigment epithelial detachment underwent optical coherence tomography. The images were analyzed by two observers to measure maximum retinal thickness and the width and maximum height of the pigment epithelial detachment. Linear regression analysis was performed to determine the association between maximum retinal thickness and retinal pigment epithelium elevation.
Results: The results indicated high correlations between observers in identifying pigment epithelial detachment edges and measuring retinal pigment epithelium elevation and maximum retinal thickness. Pigment epithelial detachment height ranged from 82 to 599 microns. Mean maximum retinal thickness was 424 +/- 150 microns. Increased maximum retinal thickness was associated with more elevated retinal pigment epithelium (r = 0.7; P = .003).
Conclusion: Retinal thickness was associated with pigment epithelial detachment height, warranting future investigations into pathophysiologic mechanisms leading to and potential treatment for pigment epithelial detachment and associated retinal thickening.
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