Indocyanine green angiography of well-defined plaque choroidal neovascularization in age-related macular degeneration

Objective: To determine the natural course of well-defined plaque choroidal neovascularization (CNV) using indocyanine green angiography. Methods: Two ophthalmologists, experts in macular diseases and indocyanine green angiography, examined 40 eyes with exudative age-related macular dege neration and a well-defined plaque CNV using complete ophthalmoscopic evalu ation, fluorescein angiography, and indocyanine green angiography. The incr ease in the size of the plaques was analyzed using multivariate analysis, i n relation to the worsening of visual acuity, with adjustment for age, sex, and length of follow-up. Results: Mean follow-up was 13.5 months (median, 11 months). Initial and fi nal mean visual acuity were 20/46 (median, 20/50) and 20/65 (median, 20/100 ), respectively. The mean initial size of the plaque was 6.62 mm(2) (median , 6.20 mm(2)), and the mean final size was 10.40 mm2 (median, 9.76 mm(2)). The enlargement was statistically significant (P<.001). Conclusions: We found that plaque CNV tends to become larger with time, the enlargement reaching about 40% in 1 year of follow-up. The resulting loss of visual acuity, however, is not significant, and is slightly correlated w ith the extension of the lesion; it also does not appear to be directly rel ated to sex.