Relationship between visual acuity and spectral domain optical coherence tomography retinal parameters in neovascular age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: Relationship between spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) and visual acuity (VA) in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (NVAMD). PROCEDURES: VA and SD-OCTs of 64 treatment-naive eyes with NVAMD were retrospectively collected at baseline and 1 year (n = 30). Retinal and subretinal spaces were manually analyzed. Volume and thickness measurements were correlated with VA. RESULTS: At baseline, lower VA correlated with increased volume of subretinal hyperreflective material (R = 0.4, p < 0.001) and with decreased volume of the photoreceptor layer (PRL, R = -0.4, p < 0.01). At 1 year, lower VA correlated with decreased volume of the retina (R = -0.7, p < 0.001), outer nuclear layer (R = -0.6, p < 0.05) and PRL (R = -0.7, p < 0.001). Decrease in VA after 1 year correlated with a decrease in PRL (R = 0.4, p < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Quantitative analysis of SD-OCT revealed correlations between VA and retinal and subretinal morphological changes in NVAMD. MESSAGE: Atrophy of the outer retina is an important correlate for lower VA in NVAMD.