Peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy: a clinical, angiographic, and histologic study.
OBJECTIVE
To describe the clinical and angiographic characteristics of peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy, an uncommon chorioretinal mass lesion, important for its differential diagnosis to choroidal melanoma, but only rarely described in the literature.


METHODS
Retrospective, institutional chart review.


METHODS
Institutional chart review of 45 patients (56 eyes) diagnosed with peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy to describe the clinical findings and those obtained by fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), in addition to a review of the histologic findings of an enucleated eye.


RESULTS
Peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy typically was characterized by increased age of the patient (mean, 77 years; range, 60 to 91 years), female preponderance (69%), frequent pigment epithelium detachment, temporal equatorial location, and a highly hemorrhagic and exudative presentation, sometimes extending to the macula. Bilateral involvement (24%) was associated with multiples lesions in the same eye (P < .001) and with nasal extension (P < .001). A neovascular origin was suspected on FA, but was more evident on ICGA. Histologic examination of the enucleated eye did not reveal a neovascular network.


CONCLUSIONS
Peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy is a characteristic peripheral degenerative disorder, frequently with benign outcome, although it can be vision threatening because of hemorrhage or exudation. Clinical features are helpful for its diagnosis. FA and ICGA contribute valuable evidence to the hypothesis of a neovascular origin, but further histologic studies are needed to prove this hypothesis.
Ophthalmology Department, University of Lausanne, Jules-Gonin Eye Hospital, Lausanne, Switzerland. irmela.mantel@fa2.ch
Irmela
I
Mantel
Sylvie
S
Uffer
Leonidas
L
Zografos
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015862:Choroid Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004396:Coloring Agents; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005122:Exudates and Transudates; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000175:diagnosis; D012166:Retinal Hemorrhage / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies
D004396:Coloring Agents; D007208:Indocyanine Green