Faculty Bibliography

The Authors report laser treatment of 18 eyes (14 patients) with a variant of central serous chorioretinopathy associated with widespread decompensation of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) in the macula, diffuse retinal pigment epitheliopathy (DRPE). All eighteen eyes with DRPE were treated with Krypton red laser photocoagulation in a grid pattern to leaking RPE in areas of neurosensory retinal detachment. All eyes showed anatomic improvement with resolution of the serous macular detachment and lipid exudation. The visual acuity was stabilized in 15 eyes (83%) at 6 months' follow-up, but only 3 eyes (17%) demonstrated improved visual acuity in the same time interval. At eighteen months, 2 of 15 eyes (13%) retained improved visual acuity, 11 eyes (74%) remained unchanged, and 2 eyes (13%) had visual loss. In this series of patients with DRPE, grid laser photocoagulation treatment was uniformly successful in producing an anatomic improvement in the exudative manifestations of the macula and in preventing or slowing progression of vision loss

Recent developments in the field of ophthalmic lasers include new improvements and upgrades in existing units, new laser delivery systems and new wavelengths, and new applications for treating a wide variety of ophthalmic diseases. In the field of retinal disease, the efficacy of laser treatment in diabetic edema and of panretinal photocoagulation for proliferative diabetic retinopathy have been studied. Complications related to the use of these therapeutic techniques are discussed. The diode laser, which emits at a wavelength of 810 nm, has been found to be clinically useful in the treatment of retinal disease. In the area of glaucoma, a better understanding of argon laser trabeculoplasty and peripheral iridotomy is presented, and comparisons are made with other laser systems, including the neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet and diode lasers. The benefits of contact and noncontact neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet lasers are discussed. In the area of corneal disease, early results from clinical trials of photorefractive and phototherapeutic applications of the excimer laser appear encouraging and suggest that this laser system will play a vital role in the treatment of a number of diseases. Finally, the neodymium:yttrium-aluminum-garnet laser and argon laser are finding a role in the field of oculoplastics

A 24-year-old Caucasian female presented with acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) and associated infiltration round some of the larger choroidal blood vessels. This infiltration dissipated as the patient's clinical condition improved and did not induce any permanent alteration of the overlying retinal pigment epithelium. We suggest that the infiltration round the choroidal vessels was due to a choroidal vasculitis. The finding of choroidal inflammation in this case lends support to the hypothesis that choroidal vasculitis is an underlying pathological process in APMPPE. $$:

A 24-year-old Caucasian female presented with acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) and associated infiltration round some of the larger choroidal blood vessels. This infiltration dissipated as the patient's clinical condition improved and did not induce any permanent alteration of the overlying retinal pigment epithelium. We suggest that the infiltration round the choroidal vessels was due to a choroidal vasculitis. The finding of choroidal inflammation in this case lends support to the hypothesis that choroidal vasculitis is an underlying pathotogical process in APMPPE. $$:

A 24-year-old Caucasian female presented with acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) and associated infiltration round some of the larger choroidal blood vessels. This infiltration dissipated as the patient's clinical condition improved and did not induce any permanent alteration of the overlying retinal pigment epithelium. We suggest that the infiltration round the choroidal vessels was due to a choroidal vasculitis. The finding of choroidal inflammation in this case lends support to the hypothesis that choroidal vasculitis is an underlying pathological process in APMPPE

The evaluation of the posterior vitreoretinal interface is important in the study of the natural course and preoperative evaluation of numerous disorders of the retina. The exact status of the posterior vitreous cannot always be reliably determined by ophthalmoscopic examination. The diagnostic value of kinetic contact ultrasonography was investigated to evaluate the status of the posterior vitreous in 70 eyes with clear ocular media. Contact B-scan ultrasound provided an extremely accurate method for evaluating the posterior vitreoretinal interface in 69 of the 70 eyes in this study, when compared with all conventional clinical means of examination including slit-lamp biomicroscopy with the Goldmann contact lens and fundus photography with the El Bayadi-Kajiura lens. Contact B-scan ultrasonography is an important diagnostic adjunct in determining the status of the vitreoretinal interface

A series of young adult patients developed solar retinopathy during sun exposure over a two-day period in a particular region of the United States during March of 1986. Evaluation of the photobiological and geophysical parameters involved in solar retinitis are presented. A multifactorial pathogenesis is proposed. Of interest, a possible increase in terrestrial ultraviolet B radiation secondary to a localized relatively low ozone column during the days involved may have contributed to the retinal damage. Recommendations for protection from solar retinitis are noted