Faculty Bibliography

PURPOSE: To examine volume-rendered spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images in patients who had undergone vitrectomy, many of whom had internal limiting membrane removal to investigate a condition termed "dissociated optic nerve fiber layer appearance." METHODS: Patients who had undergone vitrectomy for either macular hole or epiretinal membrane were evaluated. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography B-scan images were acquired with the use of eye tracking at an interval of either 30 mum or 60 mum. These were registered and exported to a volume-rendering program, and the resultant volume-rendered images were evaluated. The images were graded for the presence of inner retinal abnormalities, and correlates were made to corresponding alterations seen in fundus photographs and B-scan spectral-domain optical coherence tomography images. RESULTS: There were 25 eyes of 24 patients with a mean age of 72.4 (+/- 7.3) years, 15 of whom were women. The primary preoperative diagnosis was macular hole in 10 eyes (40%) and epiretinal membrane in 15 eyes (60%). As part of the surgery, 18 eyes (72%) had planned peeling of the internal limiting membrane. Volume rendering showed that 13 eyes had pitting or dimples of the inner retinal surface that seemed to follow the course of the nerve fiber layer in the region of the macula. The inner retinal dimples occurred only in eyes that had internal limiting membrane peeling. Correlation of the volume-rendered images with B-scan spectral-domain optical coherence tomography showed focal areas of thinning of the ganglion cell layer with decreased reflectivity from the nerve fiber layer in the areas of the dimples. CONCLUSION: A high proportion of eyes with internal limiting membrane peeling develop inner retinal dimples that course along the path of the nerve fiber layer. The dimples seem to be the result of an interplay between trauma and healing processes constrained by nerve fiber layer and do not appear to be because of dissociation of optic nerve fibers. The true nature of the abnormalities induced should be investigated to evaluate the long-term risks and benefits of routine internal limiting membrane peeling.

PURPOSE: To investigate the anatomic characteristics of peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation using optical coherence tomography methodologies that are capable of deeper tissue penetration and consider pathophysiologic mechanisms of disease on the basis of the derived imaging information. METHODS: Consecutive eyes with peripapillary intrachoroidal cavitation were imaged with swept source optical coherence tomography with a 1-mm light source and in one eye with enhanced depth imaging spectral domain optical coherence tomography and 3-dimensional rendering. The anatomic layers were identified, and the induced abnormalities were evaluated. RESULTS: There were 16 eyes of 13 patients who had a mean age of 50.3 years and a mean spherical refraction of -12.5 diopters in the affected eyes. The lesion appeared as a yellowish-orange lobular region, usually inferior to the optic nerve, which was invariably tilted. The sclera was bowed posteriorly under the region of the intrachoroidal cavitation, while the overlying retina-retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch membrane complex showed little, if any deformation. Full-thickness defects in the retina at the inferior border of the conus were seen in four eyes and were associated with prominent cavitation within the choroid with marked posterior bowing of the sclera, but negligible deformation of the overlying retina inferior to the nerve. CONCLUSION: Newer imaging modalities provided information about deeper structures in the eye not available in older studies that were performed with time-domain optical coherence tomography. This study demonstrated posterior deformation of the sclera in regions previously thinned by the ocular expansion that occurs in high myopia and imaged the resultant effects on the involved choroid.

BACKGROUND: Most patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) have spontaneous resolution of exudative macular detachments and a good visual prognosis. Patients with CSC have a primary choroidal hyperpermeability problem evident as multifocal areas of hyperpermeability during indocyanine green (ICG) angiography. A small percentage of patients develop chronic or progressive disease with widespread decompensation of the retinal pigment epithelium and severe vision loss. There is no known treatment for this variant of the disorder. PURPOSE: To study ICG-guided photodynamic therapy (PDT) with verteporfin as a potential treatment for patients with chronic CSC. METHODS: Twenty eyes of 15 patients were studied with fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography, and ICG angiography to diagnose the maculopathy, monitor the detachments, and localize the choroidal hyperpermeability of the disorder. PDT with ICG guidance was applied to areas of choroidal hyperpermeability, and the patients were observed to determine the anatomic and functional outcomes. RESULTS: Photodynamic therapy guided by ICG was associated with complete resolution of exudative macular detachments in 12 patients and incomplete resolution in the remaining eight eyes. The vision improved in six eyes and remained unchanged in 14 eyes during a mean follow-up of 6.8 months. Six weeks after treatment, the mean visual acuity improved by 0.55 lines, an amount that was marginally significant. There was a significant inverse correlation between the baseline visual acuity and the amount of improvement in acuity at 6 weeks. No patient had any treatment-related side effects. CONCLUSIONS: Indocyanine green angiography-guided PDT with verteporfin seems to aid in the resolution of exudative detachments in patients with chronic CSC. This treatment was associated with a rapid reduction in subretinal fluid and improvement in visual acuity. Although the follow-up time and number of patients in this pilot study were limited, the encouraging results and lack of complications suggest that further study is indicated.

PURPOSE: To study the effects of photodynamic therapy using verteporfin in the treatment of patients with subfoveal polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV). METHODS: A retrospective chart review of 16 consecutive patients with subfoveal PCV treated with photodynamic therapy using verteporfin was performed. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients involved was 70.5 years. The mean follow-up time was 12 months. The visual acuity improved in 9 (56.3 %), remained the same in 5 (31.3 %), and decreased in 2 (12.5 %). The mean change in visual acuity was an improvement of 2.38 lines, a difference that was highly significant (P = 0.004). The change in visual acuity was negatively correlated with increasing age. The final visual acuity was positively correlated with initial acuity and negatively correlated with age. These results were confirmed by multiple linear regression. No patient had any lasting complication from the treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Subfoveal PCV has no proven method of treatment. Although the follow-up time and the number of patients in this pilot study were limited, the encouraging results and lack of complications suggest that further study is indicated.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to describe the association of acquired vitelliform lesion (AVL) and large drusen in patients with non-neovascular age-related macular degeneration. METHODS: A retrospective review of clinical examination and multimodal imaging data of patients with AVL and large drusen seen over a 12-month period was performed. Acquired vitelliform lesion was defined as subretinal accretion of hyperautofluorescent yellowish material within the macular region not due to vitelliform macular dystrophy. Large drusen were diagnosed by the presence of mounded deposits in the subretinal pigment epithelial space between the retinal pigment epithelium and the Bruch membrane using multimodal imaging analysis (color photography, autofluorescence, and spectral domain optical coherence tomography). RESULTS: Thirteen eyes of 9 white patients with a mean age of 74 years were observed to have AVL associated with large drusen. The median visual acuity was 20/60. All AVLs were hyperautofluorescent and were located in the subretinal space between the retinal pigment epithelium and the photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment junction. The AVL in this series had similar color, autofluorescence, and optical coherence tomographic findings as the AVL seen in association with cuticular drusen and subretinal drusenoid deposits. CONCLUSION: Acquired vitelliform lesions, which have previously been related to cuticular drusen and subretinal drusenoid deposits, can occur in association with large drusen. Abnormalities leading to drusen formation or processes that function in parallel to these may be causative in AVL formation.

Eleven patients, 40 to 71 years old, had a choroidal vasculopathy that led to hemorrhagic and exudative macular degeneration. The patients had peculiar polypoidal, subretinal, vascular lesions associated with serous and hemorrhagic detachments of the retinal pigment epithelium. This macular disorder, which we have named idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (IPCV), appears to represent a distinct entity that differs clinically and demograph-ically from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and other macular diseases associated with subretinal neovascularization. Recognition of this condition is important because it may have specific risk factors, natural course, and management considerations that differ from those of age-related macular degeneration