Clinical features of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy with retinal pigment epithelium tears

Abstract

Objective To observe the clinical features of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV)with retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tears.Methods Twelve patients of PCV with RPE tears (12 eyes)were enrolled in this study.The patients included eight males and four females,with a mean age of 58.6years (from 39 to 71 years old).All the patients were affected unilaterally,including eight right eyes and four left eyes.There were one eye with serous RPE detachment and 11 eyes with hemorhagic RPE detachment.All the patients were examined for fundus photography,fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA)and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA),three patients were examined for optical coherence tomography (OCT).The location of RPE tear was classified as within vascular arcade,on vascular arcade,and outside vascular arcade.The shape of tear was classified as crescent,semilunar,or irregular.The features of fundus,FFA,ICGA and OCT were observed.Results Fundus examination presents a gray lesion in all eyes.The location of tear were within vascular arcade in four eyes (33.3％),on vascular arcade in five eyes (41.7％) and outside vascular arcade in three eyes (25.0％).The shape of tears were crescent (one eye,8.3％),semilunar (ten eyes,83.3％) or irregular (one eye,8.3％).The RPE tear region present transimitted fluorescence of at the early stage of FFA and hyperfluorescence with a clear border at late stage.There was no leakage,and at the border of hyperfluorescence,blockage fluorescence of rolled and contracted RPE was present.In ICGA manifestation,transimitted fluorescence was found in RPE tear region at early stage,and a clear border was seen in nine eyes at late stage.There was also blockage fluorescence in ICGA of contracted RPE.In OCT manifestation,the RPE reflections were disappeared,and at the margin of tear,the contracted RPE present a dense rolled strong reflection.Conclusions In PCV patients,RPE tears are semilunar and usually located within or around the vascular arcade.Fundus angiograpby shows transimitted fluorescence at the RPE tear region,and curl blockage fluorescence at the edges.OCT shows RPE reflection is disappeared in the tear region and a strong reflection at the edges. Key words: Choroid diseases/diagnosis; Pigment epithelium of eye/injuries; Fluorescein angiography; Indocyanine green/diagnostic use