Purpose
To evaluate the correlation between fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) morphological analysis in eyes with acute central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR).
Methods
...Thirty-one patients with a first episode of CSCR and symptom duration of less than 6 weeks were prospectively enrolled. FAF and SD-OCT examination were performed at baseline and at 2-month intervals. Main outcome measure was the correlation between FAF and SD-OCT retinal morphology.
Results
At baseline, 30/31 and 29/31 eyes showed a macular hypo-AF, corresponding to the neurosensory retinal detachment (SRD), on shortwave-FAF (SW-FAF) and near-infrared-FAF (NIR-FAF), respectively. While the SRD resolved, both FAF techniques showed a granular hyper-AF in 31 eyes. At first examination, SD-OCT confirmed the SRD with a photoreceptor outer-segment (OS) elongation in all cases. During SRD resolution, the photoreceptor layer appeared thicker and fragmented. Multiple hyper-reflective precipitates were detected in the outer plexiform and nuclear layer and between the photoreceptors and appeared colocalized with the hyper-AF dots composing the granular hyper-AF. After SRD resolution, the hypo-AF area reverted to a normal pattern on SW-FAF in all eyes and in 25/31 on NIR-FAF. Examination at 12 months showed that the granular hyper-AF was still detectable in 54 % eyes, whereas 6/31 eyes showed hypo-AF dots on NIR-FAF. On SD-OCT, the junction IS/OS was identifiable in 11/31 eyes soon after the SRD resolution and appeared completely restored in all patients at the final visit.
Conclusion
The simultaneous acquisition of FAF and SD-OCT provides detailed findings of retinal abnormalities of CSCR and may help to understand the evolving process linked to CSCR.
To describe the morphologic alterations on spectral domain optical coherence tomography in active myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV) receiving intravitreal bevacizumab and to evaluate its ...diagnostic accuracy, taking fluorescein angiography as a reference examination.
Thirty patients (30 eyes) were prospectively enrolled. Each eye was imaged with fluorescein angiography and spectral domain optical coherence tomography at the baseline and at 1-, 2-, and 3-month examinations. Spectral domain optical coherence tomography parameters consisting of intraretinal/subretinal fluid and absence of external limiting membrane (ELM) visibility were considered signs of CNV activity and collated with the presence/absence of leakage on fluorescein angiography. Main outcome measures were frequencies of the retinal alterations associated with myopic CNV at the diagnosis and during monitoring of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy.
At the diagnosis, spectral domain optical coherence tomography identified subretinal fluid in 14 eyes (46%), intraretinal fluid associated with subretinal fluid in 12 eyes (40%), and absence of ELM visibility in 30 of the 30 eyes (100%). During the follow-up, fluorescein leakage was noted in 32 visits (18, 8, and 6 eyes at the 1-, 2- and 3-month examinations, respectively). Taking into consideration spectral domain optical coherence tomography features of active myopic CNVs on fluorescein angiography, subretinal fluid was identified in 24 examinations (75%), intraretinal cysts with subretinal fluid were noted in 5 visits (15.6%), and the absence of ELM visibility was visible in 32 examinations (100%). The alterations of the ELM corresponded to the location of the fluorescein leakage.
This study provides evidence that the absence of ELM visibility is a more reliable parameter for evaluating CNV activity than intraretinal/subretinal fluid collection and may constitute a useful option in diagnosing and monitoring the myopic CNV during anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy.
To compare intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) and intravitreal ranibizumab (IVR) in the treatment of subfoveal choroidal neovascularization associated with pathologic myopia.
Fifty-five patients ...fulfilling inclusion and exclusion criteria were randomized either to IVB or to IVR. After the first injection, re-treatments were performed on a pro re nata basis in monthly examinations over an 18-month follow-up. Primary outcome measures were the change in mean best-corrected visual acuity and the proportion of eyes improving in best-corrected visual acuity by >1 and >3 lines at the 18-month examination.
Forty-eight eyes received the treatment and were subsequently included in the analysis. At the 18-month examination, a significant improvement of 1.7 lines and 1.8 lines compared with baseline were noticed in the IVR and IVB subgroups, respectively. The difference in the final mean best-corrected visual acuity between the groups was not significant. A 3-line gain or higher was noted in 30% of eyes in the IVR subgroup and 44% of eyes in the IVB subgroup. Although both groups attained a significant improvement in central macular thickness, the IVR subgroup achieved a faster central macular thickness reduction. A significantly lower number of injections were administered in the IVR subgroup (2.5) compared with the IVB subgroup (4.7; P < 0.001).
Intravitreal ranibizumab and IVB are effective in the treatment of subfoveal myopic choroidal neovascularization. Intravitreal ranibizumab achieved greater efficacy than IVB in terms of the mean number of injections administered.
Purpose To provide a systematic classification of fundus autofluorescence (FAF) patterns in patients affected by Best vitelliform macular dystrophy. Design Cross-sectional prospective study. Methods ...Patients affected by Best vitelliform macular dystrophy at different stages of the disease were prospectively enrolled from January 2012 to July 2013. Eighty eyes of 40 patients were included in the study. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, including genetic characterization, short-wavelength FAF, and near-infrared FAF. Main outcome measures were the recognition of the FAF patterns in the different stages and the identification of a relationship between FAF patterns and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA). Results Six FAF patterns for both short-wavelength and near-infrared FAF were identified, including normal, hyper-autofluorescent, hypo-autofluorescent, patchy, multifocal, and spoke-like patterns. Applying Gass's classification for defining consecutive stages of Best vitelliform macular dystrophy (namely vitelliform, pseudohypopyon, vitelliruptive, atrophic, and cicatricial) identified no pattern as stage-specific. Patchy patterns had the highest prevalence. A statistically significant difference (Kruskal-Wallis ANOVA) was found among hyper-autofluorescent, patchy, and hypo-autofluorescent patterns, both in short-wavelength ( P = .001) and near-infrared FAF ( P = .001). Hyper-autofluorescent and hypo-autofluorescent patterns were associated with better and worse BCVA, respectively. Conclusions Six main patterns on both short-wavelength and near-infrared FAF were identified in Best vitelliform macular dystrophy. No FAF pattern can be considered stage-specific. Although a difference in the BCVA among the FAF patterns was registered, only a longitudinal study designed to evaluate the clinical and FAF modifications over the follow-up will help clarify the prognostic implications of each FAF pattern.
Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is a retinal disorder that primarily affects young (20- to 50-year-old) white men, although it is seen occasionally in older patients and females. CSC is ...characterized by avascular focal leakage through the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), resulting in serous detachment of the neurosensory retina. The course is usually self-limiting and in most cases resolves spontaneously within a 3-month period, with visual acuity usually recovering to 20/30 or better. However, chronic CSC may develop as a consequence of recurrences or persistent neurosensory detachment, and can result in progressive RPE atrophy and permanent visual loss. A primary involvement of the RPE and choroidal vascularization play a significant role in the pathogenesis of CSC and the current treatment options attempt to restore the functions of the RPE and the normal choroidal vasculature. The aim of the current review is to provide an overview of the current therapeutical approaches to CSC, including observation, laser treatment, photodynamic therapy with verteporfin, intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy and the mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists.
Purpose:
To describe two cases of Cobb’s tufts in apparently healthy subjects.
Methods:
Observational case series.
Results:
Two patients reporting sudden vision loss, with subsequent complete ...recovery, underwent a complete ophthalmological examination, including iris fluorescein angiography. Both patients took an “eye-selfie” using their smartphone to provide evidence of the iris bleeding. Iris fluorescein angiography confirmed the presence of iris neovascular tufts at the pupillary margin.
Conclusion:
Diagnosis of Cobb’s tufts can frequently be challenging. The two patients’ astute action in taking photographs of the eye enabled the condition to be promptly identified.
Purpose:
To identify a new cortical vitreous segmentation protocol for non invasive standardised investigation of Neovascularisation (NV) with detection of regression of NV activity in Proliferative ...Diabetic Retinopathy (PDR).
Design:
Retrospective study.
Participants:
One hundred and eighty-six eyes of 93 consecutive diabetic patients (mean age: 52.6 ± 11.0 years) imaged using Topcon Triton® Swept-Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography (SS-OCTA) from June 2015 to January 2017.
Methods:
Scans were performed through the macula, optic disc and areas of possible NV in mid-peripheral retina using 6 × 6 mm and/or 9 × 9 mm raster-patterns in three segmentation protocols: Vitreo-Retinal (VRS), Outer-Vitreous (OVS) and Core-Vitreous Segmentation (CVS). Any suspicion of PDR was confirmed in all patients by Heidelberg® Widefield-Fundus-Fluorescein-Angiography (WF-FFA) and/or Optos® Ultra-WF-FFA (UWF-FFA). Inter-observer reproducibility of NV diagnosis and agreement between SS-OCTA and UWF-FFA were assessed. Primary outcome was the identification of an effective and reproducible segmentation protocol. Secondary outcome was the identification of NV regression after treatment.
Results:
Sensitivity-specificity reached, respectively, the value of 100 to 100 in detecting NVD, and 96.6 to 100 in detecting NVE in compared areas. SS-OCTA was able to confirm absence of blood flow within the residual NV plexus when using VRS protocol in 30 eyes in which regression of NV with absence of leakage was documented on FFA.
Conclusion:
Three segmentation protocols (VRS, OVS and CVS) with different but complementary characteristics, allowed a reproducible and standardised investigation of NVD and NVE. The proposed new SS-OCTA cortical vitreous segmentation protocols may be of value when identifying and assessing NV-activity (VRS, OVS and CVS) or NV-regression (VRS) in PDR and therefore, response to therapy.
Purpose:
To report the morphological and clinical features of a case of pachychoroid disease with focal choroidal excavation and large choroidal excavation complicated by choroidal ...neovascularization.
Methods:
The patient underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination including best-corrected visual acuity assessment, anterior segment and dilated fundus examination, fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography.
Results:
During the previous follow-up, the 57-year-old man received a diagnosis of central serous chorioretinopathy in the right eye with a late appearance of a choroidal neovascularization. The best-corrected visual acuity was 20/125 and 20/20 in the right and left eye, respectively. Dilated fundus examination, fluorescein angiography, and indocyanine green angiography confirmed a large subretinal fibrosis corresponding to the evolution of the choroidal neovascularization in the right eye. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography clearly demonstrated in the right eye a large choroidal excavation below the fibrotic neovascular lesion with multiple hyperreflective foci inside the cavity, and in the left eye, a conforming focal choroidal excavation, bowl-shape type, associated with increased choroidal thickness with pachyvessels.
Conclusion:
Large choroidal excavation has been rarely reported. Although the pathogenetic mechanisms leading to the formation of large choroidal excavation are still only hypotheses, a combination of primary degenerative inflammatory factors sustaining the focal choroidal excavation formation and disruptive process of the choroidal neovascularization could be retained responsible for the large choroidal excavation.
To assess the effects of intravitreal bevacizumab injections in the treatment of nonsubfoveal choroidal neovascularization (CNV) associated with angioid streaks (AS) in a 3-year follow-up study.
...Noncomparative, interventional, prospective case series.
Eighteen patients (18 eyes) with juxtafoveal/extrafoveal CNV secondary to AS were recruited. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) measurement on ETDRS chart, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and fluorescein angiography (FA). The protocol treatment included a first injection, followed by repeated injections on the basis of detection of new hemorrhage, any type of fluid on OCT, and/or presence of FA leakage. Primary outcome measures were final mean changes in BCVA and proportion of eyes with 10 ETDRS letters improvement. Secondary outcomes were mean changes of central macular thickness (CMT) and foveal involvement.
After a mean BCVA stabilization over the first year, a statistically significant BCVA worsening was registered at the 24-month (72.8 ± 10.0 ETDRS letters, P = .03) and 36-month examinations (65.8 ± 15.0 ETDRS letters, P = .02) in comparison with the 1-year visual outcomes (80.1 ± 5.4 ETDRS letters); lastly, a substantial stabilization in the BCVA was observed at 36 months in comparison with the baseline value (77.9 ± 10.0 ETDRS letters, P = .22). Two eyes (25%) with juxtafoveal CNV and no eye with extrafoveal CNV experienced a 10-letter improvement at the 3-year examination. Mean CMT at baseline was 220 ± 15 μm and 235 ± 66 μm at 36 months (P = 1.00). During the first and second years of follow-up, 5 juxtafoveal CNVs and 3 extrafoveal CNVs showed foveal involvement.
Intravitreal bevacizumab can be effective in the management of nonsubfoveal CNV secondary to AS, although monthly monitoring is required to control CNV recurrence or progression.
To evaluate the efficacy of intravitreal ranibizumab in the treatment of myopic choroidal neovascularization (mCNV) complicated by vitreoretinal interface alterations.
Thirty-two patients affected by ...mCNV and concurrent vitreoretinal interface disorders, including macular epiretinal membrane (18 patients), lamellar macular hole (4 patients), full-thickness macular hole (1 patient), broad/focal vitreomacular traction (3 patients), broad/focal vitreomacular adhesion (4 patients), and myopic foveoschisis (2 patients), were enrolled in a prospective study. After a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination, including best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), fluorescein angiography, and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, each patient received a first intravitreal ranibizumab. Further re-treatments were performed in the presence of choroidal neovascularization activity (new hemorrhages, leakage on fluorescein angiography, intraretinal/subretinal fluid on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, visual acuity loss of five letters). Main outcome measure was the change in the BCVA and in the central foveal thickness. Data were compared with the historical control group with uncomplicated mCNV.
The median BCVA in the epiretinal membrane-myopic choroidal neovascularization subgroup showed a stabilization from the baseline value of 0.30 logarithm of minimal angle resolution (20/40) to 0.40 (20/50, P: 0.49) at the last visit (30 ± 13 months). Median BCVA significantly improved from 0.30 (20/40) to 0.10 (20/25, P: 0.0005) in the mCNV group and was better than the epiretinal membrane-myopic choroidal neovascularization subgroup (0.008). Central foveal thickness reduced significantly within both groups, with no difference between the groups at the final examination. Considering the vitreoretinal alterations with lower prevalence, BCVA stabilization was registered after a follow-up of 28.9 ± 13 months, with a median BCVA of 0.3 logarithm of minimal angle resolution (20/40) at the baseline and at the final examination. A nonstatistically significant reduction in the median central foveal thickness was registered at the final examination (P: 0.12).
The data show that ranibizumab is effective in controlling mCNV activity when associated with vitreoretinal interface alterations. However, a visual recovery was observed only in patients with uncomplicated mCNV.
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