[Primary pigment epithelial cysts of the iris]

Abstract

Purpose: We want to present a case of bilateral, unusually large pigment epithelial cysts of the iris.

Patient: A four-year old girl presented with multiple, un-usually large, bilateral pigment epithelial iris cysts and tags at the pupillary margin. The right eye additionally presented with two adhesions of the cysts at the corneal endothelium. Otherwise, the anterior and posterior segment as well as the intraocular pressure were normal. The visual acuity was at least 0.8 without glasses, and there was no evidence of strabism or other functional impairments. At normal daylight and with non influenced pupils, the visual axis was not covered by the cysts. Since the lesions anamnesti cally appeared to be congenital and the clinical course had been benign, no therapy was initiated. The patient has been checked on at regular intervalls without any functional or morphological change.

Conclusion: Pigment epithelial cysts of the iris usually do not cause any complications due to their small size and stationary clinical course. In rare cases, the lesions can be so large, that they get into contact with the corneal endothelium and sometimes nearly cause visual impairment by covering the visual axis.