Spectral analysis of fundus autofluorescence pattern as a tool to detect early stages of degeneration in the retina and retinal pigment epithelium.

Because photooxidation and photodegradation products of bisretinoids are markers of photodestructive processes, which can cause RPE cell death and initiate degenerative processes in the retina, quantitative determination of increases in these bisretinoid products in lipofuscin granules may be used to establish quantitative diagnostic criteria for degenerative processes in the retina and RPE.