Optical coherence tomography biomarkers for neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Comprehensive multimodal imaging is essential for the precise clinical diagnostics of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nAMD). Noninvasive optical coherence tomography (OCT) is of prime importance regarding the baseline examination, follow-up and monitoring during treatment. OCT imaging in nAMD eyes enables a high-resolution assessment of the retinal micromorphology, which can be considerably disturbed in different layers. A large number of pathological OCT alterations represent distinct micromorphological OCT biomarkers. These should be taken into account in the assessment of OCT images. This article covers the following important biomarkers: intraretinal, subretinal and sub-pigment epithelial fluid, outer retinal tubulations, ellipsoid zone integrity, hyperreflective foci, subretinal drusenoid deposits, onion sign, hyporeflective prechoroidal cleft, double-layer sign, subretinal hyperreflective material and bacillary layer detachment.