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Natural course of submacular hemorrhage
1Department of Ophthalmology, Veterans General Hospital-Taipei, Taiwan, ROC.
Background:
Age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) is the most prevalent cause of blindness in the elderly population. This study retrospectively evaluated the natural course of submacular hemorrhage related to ARMD.
Methods:
We reviewed the records of patients with submacular hemorrhage and foveal avascular zone involvement at the Veterans General Hospital-Taipei from 1981 to 1996. Data were collected from color fundus pictures, fluorescence angiographic films and visual acuity changes.
Results:
Data from a total of 86 eyes with age-related macular degeneration (ARMD) and 37 non-ARMD eyes were collected. Analysis of data from the ARMD group revealed 10.5% visual acuity improvement six months after presentation and a final mean acuity of 0.069. Analysis of data from the non-ARMD group revealed 29.7% visual acuity improvement and a final mean acuity of 0.388.
Conclusions:
In this study, patients with submacular hemorrhage had spontaneous visual improvement even without surgery, especially those without subretinal neovascularization.