Peripheral Capillary Non-perfusion in Birdshot Retinochoroiditis: A Novel Finding on Ultra-widefield Fluorescein Angiography

Abstract

Purpose: To report a novel peripheral finding in patients with Birdshot retinochoroiditis (BRC) using ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography (UWFFA). Methods: UWFFA images from 90 patients diagnosed with BRC were reviewed. All images were evaluated for the presence of peripheral retinal ischemic changes and ischemia-related complications. Findings: Thirty-six eyes of 24 patients showed features of peripheral ischemia, including 18 eyes with peripheral capillary non-perfusion (CNP), 5 eyes with teleangectasias, with or without microaneurysms, and 13 eyes with both teleangectasias and CNP. None of the 36 eyes with peripheral ischemic changes developed retinal neovascularization following the diagnosis of peripheral ischemia. Conclusions: Peripheral ischemia may present in eyes with chronic inflammation as seen in BRC but does not seem to progress to neovascular complications. This is likely to be more common than suspected and has now become evident following the advent of UWFFA. Abbreviations: HLA-A29: Human leukocyte antigen - A29; FFA: Fundus fluorescein angiography; OCT: Optical coherence tomography; ICGA: Indocyanine green angiography; UWF: Ultra-wide field; UWFFA: Ultra-wide field fluorescein angiography; CNP: Capillary non-perfusion.

Keywords: Birdshot retinochoroiditis; peripheral capillary non-perfusion; retinal neovascularization; teleangectasias; ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography.