The Epidemiology of Progression of Pure Geographic Atrophy: The Beaver Dam Eye Study
Accepted 28 May 2008. published online 30 July 2008.
Purpose
To examine the change in size and location of pure geographic atrophy (GA).
Design
Population-based cohort study.
Methods
Ninety-five persons with GA either at baseline or at the one of the three five-year follow-up examinations, or both, were identified. Using computer-assisted software, the lesion area and greatest linear dimension (GLD) were calculated. Thirty-two persons (53 multiple eye-visit pairs) were seen at multiple visits five years apart with GA in the same eye to evaluate changes in total area and GLD.
Results
At the first occasion when pure GA was identified (n = 95), 45% had a single GA lesion, 18% had multifocal GA lesions, and 37% had a merged GA lesion. Of 53 eyes with multiple visits, the overall increase in atrophy was 6.4 mm2 over a five-year period. The atrophy progressed to involve the foveal center in 47% of 19 eyes, and there was a mean decrease of 17 letters read correctly. Eyes with multifocal GA were most likely to have the area of atrophy increase (mean, 12 mm2), to have atrophy progress to the foveal center (83%), and to have a decrease in vision (mean, 22 letters), whereas eyes with a single GA lesion were least likely to have the area of atrophy increase (mean, 2 mm2), to have the lesion progress to the foveal center (22%), and to have a decrease in vision (mean, 10 letters).
Conclusions
These are the first population-based data describing the five-year change in eyes with pure GA. Information on progression of GA will be useful for clinical trials of new interventions for GA.
Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin
Inquiries to Ronald Klein, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin Madison, 610 North Walnut Street, 4th Floor WARF, Madison, WI 53726
ABSTRACT