title: In vivo visualization of perforating vessels and focal scleral ectasia in pathological myopia.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe focal scleral ectasia in areas of macular/perimacular patchy chorioretinal atrophy secondary to pathologic myopia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty-nine consecutive patients with pathologic myopia and chorioretinal atrophy in at least one eye, with and without focal scleral ectasia, were analyzed by infrared reflectance (IR) and/or multicolor imaging, enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) (39 patients, 78 eyes), and swept source (SS)-OCT (13 out of 39 patients, 26 eyes) cross-sectional scan.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Focal scleral ectasia was found in 12 out of 68 eyes (11 out of 39 consecutive patients, 27 females/12 males; mean age 65.7 ± 11.9 years) with macular/perimacular patchy chorioretinal atrophy, and was always observed inferior or temporal to the macula (mean 1.25 ± 0.38/eye). Focal scleral ectasia, appearing on fundus examination as a deep dark round/oval lesion with well-defined borders, was characterized on EDI-OCT and SS-OCT by an abrupt posterior bow of the sclera with different degrees of scleral schisis on its borders. The retinal pigment epithelium and the choroid were absent in all lesions. IR reflectance and multicolor imaging showed large vessels that seem to emerge from the focal scleral ectasia, and crossing the area of patchy atrophy. EDI-OCT and SS-OCT revealed retrobulbar vessels perforating the sclera at the borders/bottom of the abrupt posterior bow of the sclera (i.e., focal scleral ectasia) and running through the superficial scleral thickness for the whole extension of the atrophic area.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  We showed that perforating vessels are localized at the border/bottom of focal scleral ectasia in pathologic myopia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Hopital Intercommunal de Creteil, University Paris Est Creteil, France.
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pedinielli
authors.forename: Eric H
authors.initials: EH
authors.lastname: Souied
authors.forename: Francois
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Perrenoud
authors.forename: Nicolas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Leveziel
authors.forename: Violaine
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caillaux
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Querques
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002829:Choroid / Q000473:pathology; D003317:Corneal Dystrophies, Hereditary / Q000209:etiology; D004108:Dilatation, Pathologic / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D064847:Multimodal Imaging; D047728:Myopia, Degenerative / Q000150:complications*; D009915:Orbit / Q000098:blood supply*; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000473:pathology; D041441:Retinoschisis / Q000175:diagnosis; D012590:Sclera / Q000098:blood supply*; D015422:Scleral Diseases / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence
keywords: atrophy; choroid; enhanced depth imaging; macular degeneration; multimodal imaging; myopia; optical coherence tomography; perforating vessels; scanning laser ophthalmoscope; sclera