[Does the micropulse laser have an effect on chronic CSC?] / Hat der Mikropulslaser bei chronischer CCS einen Effekt?

INTRODUCTION: Central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) is the fourth most common cause of vision loss without an evidence-based treatment recommendation. A positive effect of micropulse laser (MPL) treatment has been described in the literature in recent years. This study aimed to reappraise these results in a patient population with chronic CSC. METHODS: Patients suffering from chronic CSC with a source point detectable in fluorescein angiography (longer than 3 months duration and unresponsive to treatment with eplerenone and carbonic anhydrase inhibitors) were identified and included in this prospective and consecutive case study. Patients were controlled with a yellow laser (577 nm) after 6 weeks, 12 weeks and then every 3 months. RESULTS: A total of 28 patients were included (28 eyes). The mean duration of anamnesis was 444 days (90-1412 days) and the mean duration of the observation period after MPL was 257 days (42-909 days). The foveal retinal thickness measured 351.7 ± 82.4 µm before, compared to 253.6 ± 86.48 µm after MPL (mean of all patients over the whole observation period). Visual acuity was 0.33 ± 0.21 logMAR prior to MPL and 0.30 ± 0.22 logMAR posttreatment. Of the patients two underwent a second MPL and three patients underwent photodynamic treatment (PDT) after insufficient clinical improvement and were consequently excluded from the study. CONCLUSION: Retinal thickness in this patient population with chronic CSC was significantly reduced after MPL treatment with no significant changes of visual acuity. No side effects of MPL were observed. Larger studies including control groups are warranted to quantify the effects of MPL further.

[Treated cases of retinopathy of prematurity in Germany : 5-year data from the Retina.net ROP registry]. / Behandelte Frühgeborenenretinopathie in Deutschland : 5-Jahres-Daten des Retina.net ROP-Registers.

BACKGROUND: Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is one of the main reasons for childhood blindness. The number of infants requiring treatment, however, is low for individual centers. The Retina.net ROP registry has been founded to allow a joint analysis of treatment patterns and courses post treatment. OBJECTIVE: This paper reports treatment patterns over 5 years. MATERIAL AND METHODS: All infants born between January 2011 and December 2015 who were entered into the treatment registry by one of the 12 participating centers were analyzed. RESULTS: The data of 150 infants (292 eyes) were analyzed and ROP 3+ in zone II was the most prevalent treatment indication. Gestational age and birth weight remained stable over the years. The treatment patterns, however, changed with anti-VEGF treatment (bevacizumab or ranibizumab) accounting for only 10% of treated eyes in 2011 but for 56% and 30% in 2014 and 2015, respectively. Almost all eyes with AP-ROP or zone I disease received anti-VEGF treatment. Zone II disease was predominantly treated with laser photocoagulation. Recurrences were more common and appeared later in the anti-VEGF group compared to the laser group (23%/interval 60 days vs. 17%/interval 23 days). Perioperative complications were evenly distributed across treatment groups. CONCLUSION: The data in this analysis represent about 10-15% of treated infants in Germany. The results provide evidence for an increasing use of anti-VEGF agents for ROP. The data reflect a selection bias for anti-VEGF treatment in eyes with a more aggressive disease. This needs to be considered when interpreting data such as disease recurrence rates. The risk for late recurrences after anti-VEGF treatment is of particular clinical significance.

[Ultra-widefield angiography for retinal vein occlusion : How large is large enough?] / Ultraweitwinkelangiographie beim retinalen Venenverschluss : Wie groß ist groß genug?

BACKGROUND: The introduction of full fundus angiography (FAG) for retinal vein occlusion (RVO) has enriched diagnostic imaging; however, it is unclear how much of the retina has to be visualized to evaluate the risk of neovascularization. We investigated the 102° Spectralis camera to assess if imaging beyond the central 102° is necessary. METHODS: In this retrospective study we assessed 80 eyes of 80 patients with RVO to analyze central and peripheral ischemia using the ultra-widefield 102° Spectralis camera. The standard viewer software was used to delineate ischemic areas (IA) and to measure the amount of pixels of IA in correlation to the total amount of pixels in the peripheral image. RESULTS: Among the 80 eyes with RVO there were 51 eyes with ischemic areas (central and/or peripheral), of which IA could be detected in 49 eyes by analyzing a fovea-centered FAG image. The average IA in these 51 eyes was 23.5% of the total image area and 53.7% of disc areas, respectively. DISCUSSION: A fovea-centered FAG image with a 102° angle appears to be sufficient to determine the clinically relevant extent of IA. Old recommendations and imaging methods should be rethought. The 102° Spectralis camera provides a clinically suitable, fast and exact method which might replace old methods to describe and document the extent of ischemia by disc areas.

[Progressive scotoma with perception of photopsia]. / Progredientes Skotom mit Photopsiewahrnehmung.

Acute annular outer retinopathy (AAOR) is a very rare variant of acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR). Both variants are characterized by the perception of a progressive visual field defect and can be accompanied by photopsia. In contrast to AZOOR, a progressive whitish and annular demarcation of the involved retina is observed in AAOR using ophthalmoscopy. Optical coherence tomography (OCT) reveals morphological changes predominantly in the outer retinal layers. Although there is no proof of an effective therapy, in the case presented here further progression could be stopped by a combination of antiviral and immunosuppressive therapy.