Imaging Biomarkers for Pachychoroid Spectrum Disease

Dear Colleagues,

Pachychoroid spectrum disease (PSD) encompasses a set of macular disorders secondary to an abnormally thick choroid, including pachychoroid pigment epitheliopathy, focal choroidal excavation, peripapillary pachychoroid syndrome, central serous chorioretinopathy, pachychoroid neovasculopathy, and polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy, to name a few.

Like age-related macular degeneration, PSD is an entity of progressive bilateral choroidal vasculature malfunction with a continuous course from the early stage of uncomplicated pachychoroid and pachydrusen to the late stage of neovascular and atrophic PSD.

The underlying etiology and mechanism of PSD are probably due to the metabolic disorders of both catecholamine and thyroid-related hormones, as well as vortex vein congestion.

Multi-model imaging has been employed to investigate the mechanism, severity, and prognosis of PSD, which includes optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography (OCTA), and indocyanine green angiography. Meanwhile, several imaging biomarkers are introduced to achieve the purpose set out above, for example, subfoveal choroidal thickness and choroidal vascular index. At the same time, artificial intelligence (AI) deep learning is gradually being integrated into the selection of effective evaluating parameters.

The purpose of this Special Issue is to investigate the latest effective imaging biomarkers for PSD, expecting to better reveal its underlying mechanism, assess its severity, and predict its prognosis. Moreover, we would also like to include the novel research on AI deep learning in this field.

Prof. Dr. Rui Hua
Prof. Dr. Feng Wen
Prof. Dr. Meixia Zhang
Guest Editors

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