Abstract
Purpose :
The more recent introduction of ultra-wide-field fluorescein angiography (UWFA) has made it possible to capture a wider field of view that was previously unknown for traditional fundus angiography. Characterizing peripheral vascular leakage (PVL) in patients without clinically apparent retinal or choroidal vascular disease or other known causes of PVL may improve understanding of normal variation in peripheral retinal vessels. This study reports incident PVL on ultra-wide-field fluorescein angiography (UWFA) in eyes with no known peripheral retinal disease.
Methods :
A cross sectional retrospective review of a single ophthalmology department over a two year time period, evaluating all patients undergoing ultra-wide-field fluorescein angiography (UWFA) for indications that would not be expected to have a retinal vasculopathy including: pseudopapilledema, disc drusen, unilateral choroidal lesions, and non-exudative age-related macular degeneration for evidence of PVL.
Results :
Fifty eyes from forty different patients met the inclusion criteria out of the one-hundred and seventy-six eyes that underwent UWFA during the study period. A total of seven (14%) eyes from six different patients were found to have PVL. 100% of eyes with PVL were found in patients older than 65 years of age. Underlying systemic health characteristics were compared between those eyes identified to have PVL and those without. Eyes from patients who had a history of smoking were significantly more likely by Fisher Exact test (p = 0.034) to have PVL than eyes from patients with no prior smoking history.
Conclusions :
PVL is most commonly associated with uveitis and retinal vasculopathies. However, our dataset shows PVL incidence is significantly higher in eyes from patients with a history of smoking and in patients older than sixty-five years of age. These findings deserve consideration when PVL is found incidentally during UWFA.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.