Retinal inflammation diagnosed as an idiopathic macular hole with multiple recurrences and spontaneous closures: A case report.

RATIONALE: An idiopathic macular hole that causes substantial reduction in central visual acuity is believed to involve no obvious underlying diseases; thus, it is suspected to form due to the presence of idiopathic tractional forces at the vitreoretinal interface. Importantly, it is effectively treated with pars plana vitrectomy (PPV), which removes the mechanical forces. However, while it is exceedingly rare, a macular hole can develop in eyes after PPV; fresh or postoperative macular holes can close spontaneously without surgical removal of traction. Thus, another mechanism might be involved, although it remains obscure. PATIENTS CONCERNS: A 67-year-old woman experienced 4 episodes of distorted and/or blurred vision. DIAGNOSIS: She was diagnosed with recurrent macular hole formation. INTERVENTIONS: For each episode, she either underwent surgery or was placed under observation. OUTCOMES: The macular hole was twice closed with PPV and twice without. The 2nd PPV procedure, which was performed at the time of 2nd recurrence, confirmed the absence of the epiretinal membrane and internal limiting membrane that cause tractional forces at the vitreoretinal interface in the macular area. At the time of the 3rd recurrence, fluorescein angiographies (FAs) revealed the presence of mild and diffuse inflammation throughout the peripheral retina, although there were no other findings indicative of ocular inflammation during the general eye examination conducted for every episode of macular hole formation. After the initiation of topical steroid treatment, inflammation (as recorded on FA) was reduced, and the macular hole subsequently closed. Development and resolution of perifoveal cystoid change and retinal protrusion were observed in every episode in optical coherence tomography (OCT) images. A bridging element in an OCT image was observed during the 4th closure of the macular hole. LESSONS: Dynamic changes in FA and OCT images unraveled the pathogenesis of a macular hole that was originally diagnosed as idiopathic; mild inflammation was involved. The FA is typically not used for the diagnosis and management of macular hole formation; however, its use in this case helped determine a new mechanism in an otherwise idiopathic disease.

Intravitreal bevacizumab for postviral fever retinitis: a novel approach for early resolution of macular oedema.

Severe macular oedema causing marked loss of vision is seen in cases of retinitis developing postviral fever. The use of antivascular endothelial growth factor agents for macular oedema and submacular fluid secondary to viral retinitis has not been studied or well established in the past. We report a case series of two patients of postviral retinitis with severe macular oedema resistant to steroid therapy, treated with intravitreal bevacizumab. The patients showed significant symptomatic improvement in the visual acuity. The retinitis lesions resolved slowly and macular oedema regressed. Bevacizumab appears to be a safe and useful agent to manage macular oedema subsequent to postviral retinitis. An early resolution of macular oedema helps in the preservation of visual acuity which left untreated can cause severe visual loss.

Full-thickness macular hole: a rare complication of Borrelia burgdorferi neuroretinitis.

Borrelia burgdorferi is a known infective cause of neuroretinitis. We present a case of B burgdorferi neuroretinitis complicated by macular hole in a 22-year-old man. The neuroretinitis was managed with early high-dose intravenous corticosteroid and oral antibiotic. The macular hole was managed with macular hole surgery after intraocular inflammation had resolved.

Diagnostic dilemmas in retinitis and endophthalmitis.

Visual loss in infectious posterior uveitis or panuveitis can occur if proper therapy is delayed because of diagnostic uncertainty. Some disorders, such as acute retinal necrosis and bacterial endophthalmitis, can be rapidly progressive, and therefore require prompt and accurate diagnosis to guide initial therapy. Other more slowly evolving infections, such as toxoplasmic chorioretinitis or fungal endophthalmitis, can be worsened by empiric use of corticosteroids without specific antimicrobial coverage. Key ocular diagnostic features are helpful but highly variable with overlap with both non-infectious uveitis and neoplastic masquerades, even for key signs such as hypopyon. Close examination of the fundus with attention to color, location, size, border, and opacity of lesions and associated arteriolitis or frosted branch angiitis is helpful in the diagnosis of chorioretinitis. Ultrasonography is an important tool in the evaluation of eyes with suspected endophthalmitis, especially those with intracapsular infection or focal infected deposits. Testing of intraocular fluid can be extremely useful but suffers from inaccessibility, poor sensitivity, and test selections dependent on a presumptive diagnosis, which may be wrong. The dilemma for clinician is to make the correct diagnosis of a rare, blinding, variegated disease quickly enough to intercede with specific therapy or to apply empiric therapy in a sufficiently skilled manner to avert disaster and confirm the diagnosis by response to treatment. When non-infectious uveitis is in the differential, empiric corticosteroids must sometimes be used, at great risk, if clinical examination, ancillary testing, and any available intraocular diagnostic tests have failed to confirm a diagnosis.

[Differential diagnosis of retinoblastoma and Coats' retinitis using computer-assisted processing of ultrasonographic scanograms of the eye]. / Differentsial'naia diagnostika retinoblastomy i retinita Koatsa s pomoshch'iu komp'iuternoi obrabotki ul'trazvukovykh skanogramm glaza.

A new method for quantitative evaluation of ultrasonic scanograms of the eye, that permits differentiation between retinoblastoma and Coats' retinitis, was employed in echographic examinations of the eyes in 21 children with suspected intraocular volumic processes. Image analysis by plotting and processing of histogram was employed. High-confidence differences in the 'excess' and 'skewness' meanings of gradient histograms of patients with these two conditions have been detected.

[Cytomegalovirus retinitis in acute leukemia]. / Rétinite à cytomégalovirus au cours d'une leucémie aiguë.

The authors reported a Cytomegalovirus retinitis in an acute leukemia. It appears differently in each eye: localised seats of retinitis in one eye, and central venous occlusion associated with central artery occlusion in the other eye. The clinical polymorphism of herpes group virus is discussed.

123I metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) scintigraphy of retinoblastoma: preliminary experience.

123I metaiodobenzylguanidine (MIBG) is a radiopharmaceutical used for imaging neural crest tumours. The possibility of using 123I MIBG for imaging retinoblastomas has been assessed in this pilot study. Ten patients were studied, nine with clinically and histologically proved retinoblastomas and one with Coats's disease. 123I MIBG scintigraphy correctly identified the neoplasm in eight patients but gave a negative result in two, one of whom had Coats's disease and the other a retinoblastoma which proved to be extensively necrotic on histological examination. These preliminary results suggest that 123I MIBG scintigraphy may have a role in differentiating retinoblastomas from lesions that simulate them.

Retinoblastoma. CT diagnosis.

Computed tomography (CT) scan is a valuable adjunct in the differential diagnosis and management of retinoblastoma. Thirty-one of 33 retinoblastoma patients studied with high resolution computed tomography had intraocular calcification demonstrable in at least one eye. Over 80% of tumors showed evidence of calcification on CT scan. The degree of calcification appeared to depend upon tumor size; only small tumors were devoid of calcification. The amount and distribution of calcification was similar on both histological and CT review. In patients under three years of age in whom a retinoblastoma is suspected, the presence of calcification on CT scan is virtually diagnostic of retinoblastoma; patients with leukocoria without calcification on CT probably have a simulating lesion.