Radiation choroidopathy with remodeling of the choroidal venous system.
OBJECTIVE
To describe a case of radiation choroidopathy manifesting drastic remodeling of choroidal drainage routes.


METHODS
Case report. A 34-year-old man who had received radiation treatment for a tumor in the upper eyelid of his right eye 15 years earlier had floating black spots. He was examined ophthalmologically, including with indocyanine green angiography using a scanning laser ophthalmoscope.


RESULTS
The right eye manifested classic features of radiation retinopathy in the superior fundus. Indocyanine green angiography showed vaso-occlusion of choroidal arteries, capillaries, and veins in a wider area than that affected by radiation retinopathy. The superotemporal vortex vein was obliterated, resulting in a remodeling of the choroidal veins in the same quadrant. The blood in this quadrant drained into the inferotemporal vortex vein through collateral venovenous drainage routes.


CONCLUSIONS
The diagnosis in this eye was radiation retinopathy and radiation choroidopathy. Choroidal vascular lesions were more pronounced and involved a wider area than retinal vascular lesions did. This case illustrates that the choroidal veins may manifest a vast plasticity to remodel the drainage route after obliteration of a major vortex vein.
Takahashi
K
K
Department of Ophthalmology, Gunma University School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan. kyotaka@news.sb.gunma-u.ac.jp
Kishi
S
S
Muraoka
K
K
Tanaka
T
T
Shimizu
K
K
D000328:Adult; D001158:Arteries / Q000473:pathology; D002829:Choroid / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000528:radiation effects*; D003097:Collateral Circulation; D005142:Eyelid Neoplasms / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D008297:Male; D008545:Melanoma / Q000532:radiotherapy*; D009389:Neovascularization, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009887:Ophthalmoscopy; D011832:Radiation Injuries / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology; D011882:Radiotherapy, High-Energy / Q000009:adverse effects; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D015861:Retinal Neovascularization / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D014680:Veins / Q000473:pathology
D007208:Indocyanine Green