Second eye of patients with unilateral neovascular age-related macular degeneration: Caucasians vs Chinese.

To investigate the correlation between morphological features of choroidal neovascularisation (CNV) secondary to age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the first eye and the severity of age-related maculopathy (ARM) in the fellow eyes in two racial groups: Caucasians and Chinese. A total of 135, fluorescein angiograms of patients with unilateral neovascular AMD and ARM in the fellow eyes were included in the study: 38 Caucasians from King's College Hospital, UK; 45 Caucasians from West Kent Eye Centre, UK; 52 Chinese from Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Hong Kong. CNV subtype in the affected eye and ARM severity in the second eyes. Although the proportion of CNV subtypes in the three groups were similar, the Chinese cohort showed significantly less ARM severity compared to the Caucasian cohorts (P < 0.05). Although drusen and retinal pigmentary changes may be prognostic indicators of CNV, this study suggest that other factors contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of CNV in AMD.