The study was done to make a comparison of phenotypic and genetic variations in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) between Caucasian and Asian patients.
One hundred and forty treatment-naïve PCV participants (35 Portuguese and 105 Singaporean) were included. The Portuguese cohort were older (72.33±8.44 vs 68.71±9.40 years, p=0.043) and were a lower proportion of males (43% vs 71%, p=0.005) compared with the Singaporean cohort.
Differences in imaging features include higher prevalence of soft drusen (66% vs 30%, p=0.004), lower prevalence of subretinal haemorrhage (14% vs 67%, p<0.001), smaller polypoidal lesion (PL) area (0.09±0.09 vs 0.76±0.93 mm2, p<0.001), lower ratio of PL to branching vascular network area (3% vs 38%, p<0.001) and lower central retinal thickness (346.48±93.74 vs 493.16±212.92 µm, p<0.001) in the Portuguese cohort. CETP rs3764261 (OR 2.467; 95% CI 1.282 to 4.745, p=0.006) in the Portuguese population was significantly associated with PCV and CFH rs800292 (OR 1.719; 95% CI 1.139 to 2.596, p=0.010) in the Singaporean population, respectively.
The study concluded that in the Asian and Caucasian patients with PCV, there are significant differences in the expression of phenotype. We also identified different polymorphisms associated with PCV in the two populations.
Reference: https://bjo.bmj.com/content/early/2020/10/08/bjophthalmol-2020-317537
