ObjectiveTo observe the morphologic characteristics of drusen in atrophic age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT). MethodsFifty-four patients (84 eyes) with macular drusen and atrophic AMD, and 56 age-matched control patients (56 eyes) with cataract were included in this study. Atrophic AMD patients were divided into two groups: D1 group with drusen involving the fovea (42 eyes) and D2 group with drusen not involving the fovea (42 eyes). The SD-OCT images in macular (6 mm×6 mm scans) were acquired, and the foveal retinal thickness (FRT) was measured. The size, morphology, inner reflection, homogeneity of drusen and its relationship with surrounding tissues were analyzed. ResultsThe FRT of D1 group, D2 group and control group were (160.90±38.47), (194.21±26.11), (222.42±19.29) μm respectively. The FRT of D1 group and D2 group were thinner than that of control group (F=57.08, P=0.00). Totally 1124 drusen were found by SD-OCT images in 84 eyes, with an average of 10.84 drusen in each eye. 3.0%, 12.5% and 84.5% of all 1124 drusen were small, medium and large sized respectively. 56.6%, 14.2%, 20.4% and 8.8% of all drusen were dome, pointed, saw-toothed and basal-shaped respectively. 17.1%, 57.5% and 25.4% of all drusen had low, medium and high internal reflectivity respectively. The internal reflectivity of 65.6%, 2.8% and 31.7% of all drusen were homogeneous, nonhomogeneous with core, and nonhomogeneous without core respectively. Overlying retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) damage and photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction damage were presented in 34.5% and 24.8% drusen respectively. The most common type of drusen was dome-shape, homogeneous, with medium internal reflectivity, and without overlying RPE or IS/OS junction damage (81.0%). ConclusionsThe FRT becomes thinner in patients with drusen. The most common drusen types are dome-shaped, homogeneous, with medium internal reflectivity, and without overlying RPE or IS/OS junction damage.