FLUCTUATING EXUDATION in NON-NEOVASCULAR GEOGRAPHIC ATROPHY

Purpose:To report a case series of exudation in non-neovascular geographic atrophy, which fluctuated and spontaneously almost resolved during the follow-up.Methods:A retrospective study was designed to include consecutive cases with geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration associated with intraretinal fluid but without macular neovascularization. Three eyes of two patients (one male and one female) were enrolled. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography and angiographies (optical coherence tomography angiography and/or dye angiographies) were performed to confirm diagnosis of intraretinal fluid and the absence of macular neovascularization.Results:At baseline, best-corrected visual acuity was between 20/50 and 20/36. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography displayed intraretinal fluid in the inner and outer retinal layers with an increased central macular thickness. Optical coherence tomography angiography and dye angiographies did not show any abnormal neovascular network. Of note, fluorescein angiography showed a leakage in correspondence with the intraretinal cysts, differently from the degenerative pseudocysts. After one month of follow-up, best-corrected visual acuity remained stable, whereas the intraretinal fluid spontaneously almost resolved in all cases.Conclusion:To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report of a fluctuating exudation in non-neovascular geographic atrophy. Future studies are required to better define this potential novel clinical phenotype.