Abstract
We tested the hypothesis that large areas of small hard drusen (diameter <63 μm) and intermediate drusen (diameter 63-124 μm) are associated with the incidence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Eyes of 3344 older adults with at least 2 consecutive visits spaced 5 years apart over a 20-year period were included. A 6-level severity scale including no drusen, 4 levels of increasing area (from minimal (<2596 μm2) to large (>9086 μm2)) of only small hard drusen, and intermediate drusen was used. The 5-year incidence of AMD was 3% in eyes at the start of the interval with no, minimal, small, and moderate areas of only small drusen and 5% and 25% for eyes with large area of only small drusen and intermediate drusen, respectively. Compared to eyes with a moderate area of small drusen, the odds ratio (OR) of developing AMD in eyes with a large area of only small drusen was 1.8 (p < 0.001). Compared to eyes with large area of only small drusen, eyes with intermediate drusen had an OR of 5.5 (p < 0.001) of developing AMD. Our results are consistent with our hypothesis that large areas of only small drusen are associated with the incidence of AMD.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
3-2015
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/jcm4030425
Funding Information
This study was supported by National Institutes of Health grant EY06594 (Barbara E. K. Klein and Ronald Klein) and, in part, by Research to Prevent Blindness, New York, NY. No funds were received for covering the costs to publish in open access. The funding sponsors had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, and in the decision to publish results. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the official views of the National Eye Institute or the National Institutes of Health.
Repository Citation
Klein, Ronald; Myers, Chelsea E.; Lee, Kristine E.; Gangnon, Ronald E.; Sivakumaran, Theru A.; Iyengar, Sudha K; and Klein, Barbara E. K., "Small Drusen and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: The Beaver Dam Eye Study" (2015). Pathology and Laboratory Medicine Faculty Publications. 12.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pathology_facpub/12
Supplementary Information
Notes/Citation Information
Published in Journal of Clinical Medicine, v. 4, no 3, p. 425-440.
© 2015 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).