Lipofuscin- and melanin-related fundus autofluorescence in patients with submacular idiopathic choroidal neovascularization.

PURPOSE: To compare melanin-related near-infrared fundus autofluorescence (NIA; excitation 787 nm, emission> 800 nm) with lipofuscin-related fundus autofluorescence (FAF; excitation 488 nm, emission > 500 nm) in patients with idiopathic choroidal neovascularization (ICNV).

METHODS: FAF, NIA, fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA) were obtained using a confocal scanning laser Ophthalmoscope HRA2 (Heidelberg Retina Angiograph 2) in 18 eyes of 18 patients with ICNV.

RESULTS: Eighteen eyes had classic CNV, and autofluorescence imaging showed hypoautofluorescence at the site of CNV. A well-defined hyperautofluorescent ring was detected surrounding the CNV in all 18 eyes with NIA imaging. In our sample, the FAF patterns around the CNV were classified as normal (n=1, 5.56%), well-defined hyperautofluorescent ring (n=7, 38.89%), or ill-defined hyperautofluorescent ring (n=10, 55.56%).

CONCLUSION: The patterns of FAF and NIA indicated different involvement of lipofuscin and melanin in the pathophysiological process of ICNV. Compared to FAF imaging, NIA imaging appears to be a superior noninvasive method for in vivo visualization of retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) abnormalities in ICNV patients.