title: Multifocal choroiditis without panuveitis: clinical characteristics and progression.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical characteristics and progression of patients with multifocal choroiditis lesions who had minimal or no evidence of anterior uveitis and/or vitritis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective, observational, single-center consecutive case series. Clinical histories, examination, and multimodal imaging findings were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty-five eyes of 41 patients were identified. The mean age at diagnosis was 38.4 years (median, 35 years; range, 15-81 years), and 70.7% of the patients were women. Involvement was bilateral in 21 patients (51.2%) at presentation. The 60-month bilateral event-free survival was 75.0% (95% confidence interval, 49.8-91.2%). The mean visual acuity was 20/46 (median, 20/25; range, 20/20 to count fingers at 2 feet) at presentation and 20/42 (median, 20/25; range, 20/20-5/400) at the last recorded visit. The 60-month "20/50 or worse" event-free survival was 100%. Between the first presentation and final follow-up (a mean duration of 92.6 months; range, 0-343 months), 46.7% of the eyes developed new or larger chorioretinal spots and 32.6% developed new or recurrent choroidal neovascularization. The 60-month choroidal neovascularization event-free survival was 68.1% (95% confidence interval, 39.2-85.4%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients with multifocal choroiditis lesions, but with minimal or no anterior uveitis or vitritis, tended to be young women. Approximately half of the patients presented with bilateral involvement, which is less than has been reported in most case series of multifocal choroiditis with panuveitis. One quarter of all unilaterally affected patients will develop bilateral involvement by 60 months.
authors.affiliation: *Vitreous-Retina-Macula Consultants of New York, New York, New York; †LuEsther T. Mertz Retinal Research Center, Manhattan Eye, Ear, and Throat Institute, New York, New York; ‡Division of Biostatistics and Epidemiology, Department of Public Health, Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, New York; §Department of Medicine, California Pacific Medical Center, San Francisco, California; ¶Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California; and **West Coast Retina Medical Group, San Francisco, California.
authors.forename: Adrian T
authors.initials: AT
authors.lastname: Fung
authors.forename: Samriti
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pal
authors.forename: Nicolas A
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Yannuzzi
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Christos
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cooney
authors.forename: Jason S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Slakter
authors.forename: James M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Klancnik
authors.forename: K Bailey
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Freund
authors.forename: Emmett T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Cunningham
authors.forename: Lawrence A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Yannuzzi
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002833:Choroiditis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004396:Coloring Agents; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D007208:Indocyanine Green; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D000080364:Multifocal Choroiditis; D015864:Panuveitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D004396:Coloring Agents; D007208:Indocyanine Green