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Updated: Jun 12, 2026

Ex Vivo OCT-Based Multimodal Imaging of Human Donor Eyes for Research into Age-Related Macular Degeneration
Published on: May 26, 2023
Macular vitelliform lesion in desferrioxamine-related retinopathy
Mohamed A Genead1, Gerald A Fishman, Anastasios Anastasakis
1Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences (MC 648), University of Illinois at Chicago, Room 3.85, Eye and Ear Infirmary, 1855 W Taylor Street, Chicago, IL 60612-7234, USA.
Abstract:
To report a case of a macular vitelliform lesion associated with desferrioxamine treatment. Ocular, electrophysiological, psychophysical, perimetric, fluorescein angiographic, fundus autofluorescence, and spectral-domain OCT examinations were obtained on a 45-year-old Caucasian woman with thalassemia major treated with blood transfusions and desferrioxamine. The patient was observed to have a vitelliform macular lesion in the right eye with a hypopigmented macular lesion and retinal pigment mottling in the left. At the most recent follow-up visit, best-corrected visual acuity was 20/70 in the right eye and 20/25 in left. Full-field electroretinogram (ERG) testing showed normal cone and rod responses. Mild localized elevations of rod psychophysical thresholds were found. A vitelliform macular lesion can develop in patients treated with desferrioxamine. Some such patients may not show diffuse photoreceptor cell functional loss as determined by electrophysiological testing.

