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No link between parapapillary atrophy and AMD, large study suggests

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Parapapillary atrophy and age-related macular degeneration share similar histologic features, but there appears to be no significant association between the two disorders, a large population-based study found.

Jost B. Jonas, MD, and colleagues examined fundus images obtained for 3,874 participants in the Beijing Eye Study to evaluate the possible correlation between parapapillary atrophy, particularly of the beta zone, and AMD. All participants were 40 years or older, had normal IOPs, refractive errors greater than –8 D and showed no signs of glaucomatous optic neuropathy.

According to multivariate analysis, the beta zone of parapapillary atrophy was significantly associated with age (P < .001), optic disc size (P < .001) and myopic refractive error (P < .001).

However, the investigators uncovered no significant associations between the beta zone of parapapillary atrophy and the presence of retinal pigment depigmentation, hyperpigmentation, drusen size and the presence of early or late AMD, according to the study, published in the October issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology.