Choroidal hypoperfusion in acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy. An indocyanine green angiography study

Abstract

Background: The pathogenesis of acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy remains obscure. The placoid lesions and characteristic findings on fluorescein angiography have been interpreted as representing either primary disease of the retinal pigment epithelium or disease of the choroidal vasculature. This study used indocyanine green (ICG) choroidal videoangiography to investigate this controversy.

Methods: Sequential choroidal videoangiography was performed with ICG and a scanning laser ophthalmoscope on patients with acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy. Image analysis was used to differentiate between masking and ischemia as to the cause of hypofluorescence on the angiograms.

Results: Indocyanine green angiograms of acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy showed areas of hypofluorescence in both the early and late pictures that correlated with the placoid lesions. Image analysis identified these as areas of choroidal hypoperfusion. Successive films showed partial or complete resolution of these hypofluorescent areas.

Conclusions: Indocyanine green choroidal videoangiography has shown choroidal hypoperfusion to underlie the pathogenesis of acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy.