Patients with wet AMD may have a greater reduction in their ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer (GC-IPL) thickness in their fellow eyes compared with the fellow eyes of subjects who have polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV), a study in the American Journal of Ophthalmology reports.

A team of researchers from Korea enrolled 27 fellow eyes of patients with unilateral choroidal neovascularization, 33 fellow eyes of patients with unilateral PCV and 35 control eyes. After the initial visit, the investigators used spectral-domain OCT to measure the GC-IPL thickness at two follow-up visits with at least a one-year interval between exams.

The GC-IPL thickness of the fellow eyes was 78.41±9.23μm in the unilateral AMD patients, 81.20±5.52μm in the unilateral PCV subjects and 81.60±3.83μm in the control group.  

Additionally, the study found the GC-IPL thickness showed a significant change over time with a reduction rate of -0.88μm/year, -0.41μm/year and -0.31μm/year in the fellow eyes of the AMD, PCV and control groups, respectively, with the greatest loss in the unilateral choroidal neovascularization group.

In patients with unilateral wet AMD, fellow eyes with a thicker GC-IPL at baseline showed a greater reduction over time, the researchers said.