Purtscher-like retinopathy associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix.

PURPOSE: To describe a previously unreported case of Purtscher-like retinopathy secondary to severe acute renal failure associated with squamous cell carcinoma of the cervix. METHODS: This is a case report. RESULTS: A 31-year-old female presented with a week history of acute abdominal pain, vomiting and severe renal failure followed by a sudden onset of bilateral visual loss. Vision was hand movement in either eye with central scotoma. Ophthalmic examination demonstrated bilateral retinal thickening and whitening with intraretinal hemorrhages localized to the peripapillary area, consistent with the diagnosis of Purtscher-like retinopathy. Further systemic examination revealed bilateral hydronephrosis secondary to underlying undiagnosed cervical carcinoma. Patient was treated with a short course of high-dose steroids. At 2 months, patient vision remained poor despite the resolution of retinal edema and hemorrhages. CONCLUSIONS: This case serves as the first report of Purtscher-like retinopathy secondary to acute renal failure associated with cervical carcinoma, expanding the list of causes of Purtscher's or Purtscher-like retinopathies. In the presence of significant uremia and absence of previously known association, the authors postulate that the sudden surge of uremia causes increase of endothelin-1 (a potent vasoconstrictor), resulting in downstream endothelin-induced vasculopathy with subsequent occlusion of the pre-capillary arteriolar network.

The Role of New Imaging Methods in Managing Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

The use of imaging for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) depends on how it benefits clinical management and on reimbursement. The latter should relate to the former. This review assesses how different forms of AMD can be imaged and what information this provides. For nonneovascular AMD high-resolution optical coherence tomography (OCT), autofluorescence, and near infrared imaging can identify the type of drusen, such as reticular pseudodrusen, which influences prognosis, and the amount of atrophy, for which phase 3 trials are underway. Clarifying the correct diagnosis for late-onset Stargardt and macular telangiectasia, if treatment becomes available, will be especially important. Choroidal thickness can be measured and changes with anti‒vascular endothelial growth factor treatment, but how this influences management is less clear. The finding of a thick choroid may alter the diagnosis to pachychoroid neovasculopathy, which may have a different treatment response. Peripheral retinal changes are commonly found on ultrawide-field imaging but their importance is not yet determined. The mainstay of imaging is OCT, which can detect neovascular AMD by detecting thickening and be used for follow-up, as the presence or absence of thickening is the main determinant of treatment. Higher resolution systems and now OCT angiography are able to distinguish neovascular type, especially type 2 choroidal neovascularization but also polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy and retinal angiomatous proliferation. Fundus fluorescein and indocyanine green angiographies still have a role, although that partly depends on whether photodynamic therapy is being considered. Automated image analysis and machine learning will be increasingly important in supporting clinician decisions.

New vessels detected on wide-field imaging compared to two-field and seven-field imaging: implications for diabetic retinopathy screening image analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Wide-field retinal imaging (Optomap), used for detecting diabetic retinopathy (DR), has been shown to compare well with seven-field early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) photographs. An Optomap 200° image covers 80% of the retinal surface, compared with the standard seven-field, 30° images, covering 30% of the retinal surface. In England, DR screening is performed by grading two, 45° images per eye, by the DR screening service (DRSS). PURPOSE: To assess how often retinal new vessels (NVs) are observed on Optomap imaging, outside the DRSS two fields and standard seven-field photography, in a cohort of patients referred by the DRSS. METHOD: A consecutive series of treatment naïve patients with DR, referred from DRSS with pre-proliferative or proliferative DR or diabetic maculopathy, were imaged with Optomap colour images, within 3 months of DRSS referral. The incidence and distribution of NVs were recorded in relation to two-field and seven-field areas. RESULTS: NVs were found in 102 of 1562 treatment naïve eyes (6.5%) of 781 patients. Of these, 72 were referred from DRSS as having NVs, but an additional 30 eyes (29% of NVs detected) from 25 patients were referred with a lesser degree of DR. In 25 of the 30 eyes without NVs reported on referral, NVs were located outside the standard two fields taken at DRSS, and in 12, NVs were outside the area covered on seven-field imaging (11.7% of eyes with NVs). CONCLUSIONS: Wide-field imaging with Optomap detected approximately 30% more NVs than standard two-field imaging in patients referred from a UK DRSS.