title: Relevance of wide-field autofluorescence imaging in Birdshot retinochoroidopathy: descriptive analysis of 76 eyes.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To study and classify retinal lesions in patients with birdshot disease using wide-field autofluorescence imaging and correlate them according to patients' visual status.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multicentre study was carried out on 76 eyes of 39 patients with birdshot disease, analysing colour images and under autofluorescence using the wide-field Optomap(®) imaging system. This was combined with a complete clinical exam and analysis of the macula with OCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In over 80% of the eyes, a chorioretinal lesion has been observed under autofluorescence with a direct correlation between the extent of the lesion and visual status. The presence of macular hypo-autofluorescence was correlated with a decreased visual acuity, due to the presence of a macular oedema, active clinical inflammation or an epiretinal membrane. The hypo-autofluorescence observed correlated with the duration of the disease and the degree of inflammation in the affected eye, indicating a secondary lesion in the pigment epithelium in relation to the choroid. The pigment epithelium was affected in a diffuse manner, as in almost 50% of the eyes the wider peripheral retina was affected.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Wide-field autofluorescence imaging could appear to be a useful examination when monitoring patients, to look for areas of macular hypo-autofluorescence responsible for an irreversible loss of vision.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hôpital Saint-Louis, La Rochelle, France.
authors.forename: Anne-Laure Le
authors.initials: AL
authors.lastname: Piffer
authors.forename: Michèle
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Boissonnot
authors.forename: Frédéric
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Gobert
authors.forename: Anita
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zenger
authors.forename: Sebastian
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Ute
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Wolf
authors.forename: Jean-François
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Korobelnik
authors.forename: Marie-Bénédicte
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Rougier
mesh_terms: D000080365:Birdshot Chorioretinopathy; D002825:Chorioretinitis / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D015234:HLA-A Antigens; C035524:HLA-A29 antigen
keywords: Birdshot; Optomap®; autofluorescence; wide-field imagery