Purpose: To describe a patient who showed progression of age-related macular degeneration along the course of an underlying large choroidal vessel.
Methods: Retrospective case report.
Results: An 84-year-old woman was diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration and followed for more than 6 years. Retinal pigment epithelial changes were more advanced in her right eye which had a thinner choroid than the fellow left eye. Multimodal imaging with swept-source optical coherence tomography showed that the progression of outer retinal and retinal pigment epithelial changes appeared to follow the course of a large choroidal vessel.
Conclusion: The authors hypothesize that large choroidal vessels can compress the overlying choriocapillaris, possibly leading to outer retinal ischemia, which subsequently could focally accelerate the course of age-related macular degeneration.