Prevalence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in Portugal: The Coimbra Eye Study - Report 1

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the age- and gender-specific prevalence of early and late age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a Portuguese population-based sample. Methods: All patients aged ≥55 years of a Portuguese primary health-care unit were recruited for a cross-sectional population-based study. Responders underwent complete ophthalmological examination and digital fundus imaging. Early and late AMD was defined according to the International Age-Related Macular Epidemiological Study Group Classification, and the adopted staging for AMD was the same as that used in the Rotterdam study. The age- and gender-adjusted prevalence of early and late forms of AMD was calculated. Results: Of the 4,370 eligible subjects, 3,000 underwent study procedures (68.6% response rate) and 2,975 were included in the analysis; they had a mean age of 68.9 ± 8.6 years. The overall prevalence of early and late AMD was 15.53% (95% CI 14.25-16.88) and 0.67% (95% CI 0.41-1.04), respectively. Neovascular AMD (NV-AMD) and geographic atrophy (GA) accounted for 0.44% (95% CI 0.23-0.75) and 0.27% (95% CI 0.12-0.53) of individuals, respectively. The highest prevalence of advanced AMD was among those aged ≥75 years (1.13% for NV-AMD; 0.63% for GA). Conclusions: To our knowledge, this is the first AMD epidemiological study in a Portuguese population. The early forms of the disease had a similar prevalence to that of other large-scale population-based cohorts, but late AMD was less frequent than previously reported.

Sequential Morphological Changes in the CNV Net after Intravitreal Anti-VEGF Evaluated with OCT Angiography

“…Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible, severe vision loss in developed countries among people aged ≥55 years [1]. In neovascular AMD, the presence of abnormal blood vessels arising from the choroid - choroidal neovascularization (CNV) - can be found between Bruch's membrane and the retinal pigmented epithelium (type 1) or in the subretinal space (type 2).…”

Incidence of Age-Related Macular Degeneration in the Central Region of Portugal: The Coimbra Eye Study – Report 5

“…Information on the identification and description of the baseline study population has appeared in previous reports [20, 23]. Briefly, the Epidemiologic Coimbra Eye Study is a single-center population-based study whose cohort included two geographically distinct Portuguese populations aged ≥55 years: one from a coastal town (Mira) and the second from an inland town (Lousã), both in the central region of Portugal.…”

“…performed a differential analysis and graded the suspected AMD cases using the International Classification and Grading System [24]. Differential grading was performed by grading CFP images alone to allow for comparability with our previous prevalence study of AMD in this population, whose grading was based on CFP only [20, 23]. CFP image quality was adjusted using color balance software, an algorithm developed to automatically standardize the brightness, contrast and color balance of digital color fundus photographs in AMD grading [25].…”

“…Our group previously reported on AMD prevalence in a coastal town and in an inland town of the central region of Portugal [20, 23]. Globally, the prevalence of early and late AMD in Portugal was found to be comparable to other Western and Asian countries [20].…”

“…Globally, the prevalence of early and late AMD in Portugal was found to be comparable to other Western and Asian countries [20]. In the subanalysis of the coastal town the early forms of the disease had a similar prevalence to that of other large-scale population-based cohorts, but late AMD was less frequent [23]. …”