title: Focal choroidal excavation associated with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.
abstract: A 48-year-old woman presented with blurred vision in her right eye for 6 weeks. Visual acuity was 20/300 and 20/25 in the right and left eyes, respectively. Fundus examination showed subretinal hemorrhage in the superonasal macula in the right eye, whereas the left eye was normal. Fluorescein angiography showed blocked fluorescence from hemorrhage and a round distinct hypofluorescent spot along the inferotemporal arcade. Indocyanine green angiography revealed hyperfluorescent tubular and aneurysmal dilatations consistent with polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy in the superior macula. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography showed retinal pigment epithelial irregularities and detachment. Scans through the round area of hypofluorescence revealed a conforming focal choroidal excavation and thinning of the underlying choriocapillaries. Because the pathogenesis of focal choroidal excavation is currently unclear, the authors propose the possibility of an acquired etiology related to loss of choriocapillaries from perfusion abnormalities as evidenced here.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
authors.forename: Emil Anthony T
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Say
authors.forename: Pooja D
authors.initials: PD
authors.lastname: Jani
authors.forename: Matthew F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Appenzeller
authors.forename: Odette M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Houghton
mesh_terms: D015862:Choroid Diseases / Q000473:pathology*; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000175:diagnosis; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence