Punctate inner choroidopathy: a survey analysis of 77 persons

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the demographic and clinical features of punctate inner choroidopathy (PIC).

Design: Noncomparative survey.

Participants: Persons with PIC who were in contact with the PIC Society.

Methods: A survey was designed and posted on the Web site of the PIC Society, and persons diagnosed with PIC were invited to participate. Seventy-seven persons with PIC completed the survey.

Main outcome measures: Demographics, presenting symptoms, disease manifestations, treatment regimens, and ocular complications.

Results: Of the 77 participants who completed the survey, 90% were women, 97% Caucasian, and 85% myopic. The median age of participants was 30 years (range, 15-55). The median duration of disease at the time of survey completion was 3 years (range, <1-14). Reported presenting symptoms of PIC included scotomata (91%), blurred vision (86%), photopsias (73%), floaters (69%), photophobia (69%), metamorphopsia (65%), and loss of peripheral vision (26%). Eighty-five percent reported unilateral scotomata initially. Thirty-two percent of participants reported waxing and waning symptoms before treatment. The majority of participants (86%) had received treatment, most commonly with systemic (60%) and/or intraocular corticosteroids (22%). Fourteen percent of participants reported treatment with at least one immunosuppressive agent at some time during their disease. Sixty-nine percent had been diagnosed with choroidal neovascularization and 56% with subretinal fibrosis in at least one eye. In 75% of respondents, the onset of choroidal neovascularization occurred less than 1 year after the presenting symptoms of PIC, and in 79%, the onset of subretinal fibrosis occurred less than 1 year after the presenting symptoms.

Conclusions: In this survey of 77 persons with PIC, the majority of respondents were young, myopic, Caucasian women, who experienced unilateral scotoma and blurred vision as initial symptoms. The ocular complications choroidal neovascularization and subretinal fibrosis were present in the majority of participants in at least one eye and typically occurred within the first year of initial symptoms.