[Study of choroidal vascular lesions in bullous retinal detachment by indocyanine green angiography]

Fluorescein and indocyanine green (ICG) angiography was performed in 18 eyes of 9 patients with bullous retinal detachment. The series comprised 12 eyes with retinal detachment, 3 treated eyes and 3 unaffected eyes. In the 12 eyes with retinal detachment, there were a total of 33 sites of fluorescein leakage, or 2.8 per eye. Leakage of ICG into the subretinal space, corresponding to the site of leakage of fluorescein, was present at 29 foci in 12 eyes. A dilated major choroidal vein was located posterior or adjacent to the site of leakage. Choroidal tissue staining was present around 30 foci of leakage in 12 eyes in late-phase ICG angiograms. This phenomenon persisted after serous retinal detachment had disappeared following photocoagulation. Multiple areas of choroidal staining were also present in unaffected areas in all the 12 eyes. Choroidal staining was also a regular feature around retinal pigment epithelial detachment. Recurrence of leakage developed in this area in one eye. The findings suggest that choroidal vascular hyperpermeability plays a causative role in damage to the retinal pigment epithelium in bullous retinal detachment.