CORRELATION BETWEEN INFLAMMATORY FOCI REACTIVATION AND ATROPHY GROWTH IN EYES WITH IDIOPATHIC MULTIFOCAL CHOROIDITIS.

PURPOSE: To correlate the number of inflammatory reactivations in atrophic foci of multifocal choroiditis (MFC) with their growth rate over a 4-year span. METHODS: Comparative case series. Optical coherence tomography scans of patients affected by MFC were reviewed to identify reactivations within or at the margin of atrophic MFC foci. The area of selected lesions was semiautomatically delineated on fundus autofluorescence images and recorded at yearly intervals for a total follow-up of 4 years. The main outcome was the difference in annual square-root transformed area growth rate between lesions that reactivated and lesions that did not. RESULTS: Sixty-six foci of 30 eyes of 24 patients were included. All MFC foci enlarged over time, but the annual growth rate was more than double in lesions that reactivated compared with those that did not (mean [SD], 0.051 [0.035] vs. 0.021 [0.015] mm/year, P < 0.001), despite starting from comparable baseline areas. For each additional inflammatory reactivation, the annual growth rate increased by more than 20% (+0.009 mm/year, 95% CI [0.006, 0.012], P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Increasing number of reactivations of atrophic foci led to proportional increments in their growth rate, highlighting the need for a tight control of inflammatory relapses in patients affected by MFC.

Subclinical subretinal fluid detectable only by optical coherence tomography in choroidal naevi-the SON study.

BACKGROUND: Subretinal fluid is a risk factor for growth and malignant transformation of choroidal naevi, however it is unclear if this applies to subclinical fluid that is only detectable by optical coherence tomography (OCT). The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence and associations of subclinical but OCT-detectable subretinal fluid over choroidal naevi. METHODS: Cross-sectional study of 309 consecutive cases of choroidal naevi imaged by OCT between July 2017 to January 2019. Multicentre international study involving ten retinal specialist centres. All patients presenting to retinal specialists had routine clinical examination and OCT imaging. The prevalence of subclinical OCT-detectable subretinal fluid over choroidal naevi and its associations with other features known to predict growth and malignant transformation were noted and analysed. RESULTS: Of 309 identified consecutive cases, the mean patient age was 65 years, 89.3% of patients were Caucasian and 3.9% were Asian. The prevalence of subclinical but OCT-detectable subretinal fluid associated with choroidal naevi was 11.7% (36/309). Naevi with fluid were associated with larger basal diameters, greater thickness, presence of a halo, orange pigmentation, hyperautofluorescence, and hypodensity on B-scan ultrasonography. CONCLUSION AND RELEVANCE: Of choroidal naevi where subretinal fluid is not visible on clinical examination, 11.7% demonstrate subretinal fluid on OCT scans. These naevi more commonly exhibit features known to be associated with growth and transformation to melanoma. The presence of subclinical OCT-detectable fluid over choroidal naevi may assist in their risk stratification.