Clinical value of iris fluorescein angiography in diagnosis of uveitis in Chinese with brown iris / 中华实验眼科杂志

ABSTRACT

Background The pathological change of the anterior uveitis is the disruption of blood-aqueous barrier.Slit lamp examination appears to be limited for the evaluation of inflammatory response,and fluorescine angiography is an objective approach.However,there are few relative studies up to now in China.Objective Aim of this study was to observe the characteristics and assess the clinical applications of iris fluorescein angiography (IFA)in Chinese uveitis with brown iris.Methods Forty eyes of 40 normal subjects and 21 eyes of 13 patients with the anterior uveitis were collected in this study.IFA,slit-lamp examination and iris photograph were performed on the subjects.All individuals were informed consented at the initiation of this study.Results In normal eyes,fluorescence in iris vessels was blocked by the melanin pigment,but peripupillary weak fluorescent leakage was seen in the normal eyes with the age of ＞60 years old.The multiple patterns of fluorescence leakage were found in the patients suffered from uveitis of various etiologies although the negative slit-lamp finding,including the leakage of fluorescein around the pupillary margin and radial iris vessels in the eyes with mild diseases,transmitted fluorescence of regular iris vessels in the eyes with diffuse and local iris atrophy,and vascular tufts of the pupillary margin with coiled interwind tight clusters of thin vessels at the early phase in the eyes with dilated capillaries,microvascular anomalies and new vessel formation.The hyperfluorescence remained throughout the IFA duration.Conclusions IFA findings in uveitis vary depending on the topography,type and severity of inflammation.IFA has a good clinical applying value because of its objective assessment ability of the degree of the blood-aqueous barrier breakdown and iris neovascularization breakdown.It can exhibit the unvisible lesion under the slit-lamp and monitor the efficacy of medical theraphy in patients with active or quiescent uveitis.