Abstract
Purpose :
To describe characteristics of a cohort of patients diagnosed with Birdshot Retinochoroidopathy (BRC) at a tertiary care center.
Methods :
Retrospective chart review of patients diagnosed with BRC at the Manhattan Eye Ear, Throat Hospital from January 2017 to July 2021. Outcome measures included age of onset, HLA-A29 positivity, laterality, visual acuity and function, presence of cystoid macular edema, need for immunomodulatory therapy (IMT), and disease course.
Results :
Forty-three patients were analyzed. The average age of onset was 50.9 years and 81.4% of patients were female. Forty-two patients (97.7%) were HLA-A29 positive. All patients had bilateral involvement and were visually functional across the time frame of the study. Six patients (14.0%) were blind in one eye. Thirty-five patients (81.4%) experienced cystoid macular edema at some point in their disease. Thirty-five patients (81.4%) required IMT and 30 patients (69.8%) completed at least two years of therapy prior to discontinuing treatment. Of those, 73.3% were free of inflammation for five years, while 20% had recurrence of inflammation. Ten patients (27.9%) of the cohort remained on IMT during the course of the study.
Conclusions :
The characteristics of BRC in our cohort resembled those reported in other studies. Treatment of severe disease with IMT was associated with good visual outcome and disease remission.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.