OCT angiography for exudative age-related macular degeneration. Initial experiences

The new technique of optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography allows a non-invasive reconstruction of the three-dimensional structure of the total retinal and choroidal vascularization within seconds. There are still limitations caused by movement artefacts, superimposition of superficial retinal vessels at the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) level and insufficient three-dimensional imaging modalities. Initial experiences with this new method and especially the correlation with the current standard diagnostic procedure of fluorescein angiography show that new information can be obtained regarding specific vascular and neovascular changes. For three-dimensional neovascular changes, such as those found in exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD,) a more sophisticated diagnostic analysis strategy must be specifically developed. Initial experiences demonstrate that the differentiation into the various types of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) by fluorescein angiography, specifically for type 1 (occult) and type 2 (classical) can also be visualized by OCT angiography. Furthermore, the new technology provides additional information on the choroidal and outer retinal changes associated with this disease, which may result in a better understanding of the underlying pathology.