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Clinical Trial
. 2025 Feb;33(2):263-270.
doi: 10.1080/09273948.2024.2391420. Epub 2024 Aug 27.

Association Between Baseline Macular Morphologic Features on Optical Coherence Tomography and Visual Outcomes in Patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease

Miel Sundararajan  1   2   3 , Sivakumar R Rathinam  4 , Radhika Thundikandy  5 , Anuradha Kanakath  5 , S Balamurugan  6 , R Vedhanayaki  4 , D Claire Miller  2 , Lyndell L Lim  7 , Eric B Suhler  8 , Hassan A Al-Dhibi  9 , Lourdes Arellanes-Garcia  10 , Amit K Reddy  2   3   11 , Shu Feng  1 , Thuy Doan  2   3 , Travis C Porco  2 , Jessica G Shantha  2   3 , Nisha R Acharya  2   3 , John A Gonzales  2   3
Affiliations
Clinical Trial

Association Between Baseline Macular Morphologic Features on Optical Coherence Tomography and Visual Outcomes in Patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada Disease

Miel Sundararajan et al. Ocul Immunol Inflamm. 2025 Feb.

Abstract

Purpose: The choroidal thickening and serous retinal detachments that characterize Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease can be imaged in detail using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). Whether specific qualitative and quantitative SD-OCT features at presentation were associated with visual outcomes in a randomized controlled trial comparing methotrexate to mycophenolate for steroid-sparing control of uveitis were evaluated.

Methods: An exploratory subanalysis of data from the FAST trial in which SD-OCT images from VKH participants were analyzed for presence/absence of bacillary detachments, retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) folds, and internal limiting membrane (ILM) fluctuations was performed. A modified RPE undulation index was calculated to provide a quantifiable surrogate marker for choroidal folds.

Results: SD-OCT images were available from 158 eyes with VKH. At baseline, bacillary detachments were present in 23.5% of eyes, RPE folds in 22.8% of eyes, and ILM fluctuations in 35.2% of eyes. For each 0.1 unit increase in modified RPE undulation index, there was an associated 0.13 increase in mean logMAR BSCVA at baseline. None of the SD-OCT features were associated with BSCVA at the 6-month primary endpoint. Indeed, mean final BSCVA was similar in those with and without the SD-OCT features of interest at baseline, and was between 0.1 and 0.2 logMAR (Snellen visual acuity 20/25 to 20/30).

Conclusions: While eyes with VKH may present with a variety of SD-OCT imaging pathology prior to starting immunosuppression with methotrexate or mycophenolate mofetil, final visual outcome in our study was excellent. With appropriate immunosuppression, good visual outcomes are possible in VKH.ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier NCT01829295Date of Registration: April 11, 2013.

Keywords: Retinal pigment epithelium undulation index; SD-OCT; Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada.

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Conflict of interest statement

Financial and Conflict of Interest Disclosures:

Miel Sundararajan: Nothing to disclose

Sivakumar R. Rathinam: Nothing to disclose

Radhika Thundikandy: Nothing to disclose

Anuradha Kanakath: Nothing to disclose

S. Balamurugan: Nothing to disclose

R. Vedhanayaki: Nothing to disclose

D. Claire Miller: Nothing to disclose

Lyndell L. Lim: Nothing to disclose

Eric B. Suhler: Nothing to disclose

Hassan A. Al-Dhibi: Nothing to disclose

Lourdes Arellanes-Garcia: Nothing to disclose

Amit K. Reddy: Consultant, Eyepoint

Shu Feng: Nothing to disclose

Thuy Doan: Nothing to disclose

Travis C. Porco: Nothing to disclose

Jessica G. Shantha: Nothing to disclose

Nisha Acharya: Drug donation, AbbVie; Consultant, Roche

John Gonzales: Consultant, Dompé

References

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