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Retinal vascular changes in congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium
S Y Cohen1, G Quentel, B Guiberteau
1Department of Ophthalmology, University of Paris XII, Creteil, France.
Background:
Congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE) is a well-defined clinical entity with usually well-delineated, pigmented oval or round lesion with smooth or scalloped margins. Occasional retinal vascular changes have been reported previously.
Purpose And Method:
To assess the prevalence of these changes, the authors performed a retrospective analysis of 12 patients with CHRPE, for whom fluorescein angiography allowed visualization of the entire lesion and of the retinal vascular capillary bed.
Results:
Retinal vascular changes were found in 11 (91%) of these 12 patients. The changes consisted of capillary rarefaction in all 11 patients, with areas of capillary nonperfusion exceeding 1 disc diameter (DD) in three patients (25%), micro-aneurysmal capillary dilatations in three (25%), and chorioretinal anastomosis in one.
Conclusion:
These results suggest that the above changes could constitute clinical and angiographic characteristics of CHRPE and allow easy corroboration of its diagnosis, thus avoiding the need for further clinical investigations.