Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Conversations

Reticular pseudodrusen (otherwise known as subretinal drusenoid deposits) are an important finding in age-related macular degeneration. They are a risk for geographic atrophy development and growth. In this study, an internally and externally validated deep-learning algorithm was developed to automatically identify reticular pseudodrusen with similar to better accuracy than retinal specialists. This allows for future quantification of reticular pseudodrusen in clinical trials, an important next step to learning more about the importance of this sign.

A recent systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on dominant optic atrophy found that visual acuity was the only biomarker with longitudinal data, and its rate of change did not differ significantly from zero. These findings highlight a critical gap in the field - robust, sensitive biomarkers capable of capturing disease progression are lacking. Identifying alternative structural, functional or molecular biomarkers will be essential for designing and validating future therapeutic clinical trials in dominant optic atrophy.