Pulsatile Blood Flow in the Polypoidal Choroidal Vasculopathy
Received 8 January 2005; accepted 10 March 2005. published online 04 July 2005.
Objective
To describe patients with pulsatile polypoidal vessels in polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV).
Design
Retrospective, observational case series.
Participants
Eighty-four eyes of 74 patients with PCV.
Methods
The medical records of patients diagnosed with PCV between 1998 and 2004 at Kagoshima University Hospital were reviewed.
Main Outcome Measures
A pulsatile polypoidal vessel (PV) on indocyanine green angiography (ICGA).
Results
Seven of 74 patients (9.5%) had PVs in the macula. Four eyes revealed pulsatile PVs on the day the diagnosis of PCV was first made, and PVs in the other 3 eyes showed pulsatile movement during the follow-up period. Two patterns of pulsatile movement were observed on ICGA: (1) a rhythmic variation in the caliber of a choroidal vessel (caliber variation pattern) and (2) a pulsatile blood flow in a tortuous and relatively narrow choroidal vessel (pulsatile blood flow pattern). Both patterns of pulsatile PVs appeared in the early frames of the ICGA, and some of them were observable even during the first 15 minutes after the ICG dye injection. The pulsatile movement disappeared spontaneously without treatment in some patients, and the period in which pulsatile PVs was detectable on ICGA was limited in each patient.
Conclusions
We report the features of pulsatile PV in PCV. It is a unique and important characteristic that has not been reported with any other chorioretinal diseases and may provide a clue to understanding the pathogenesis of PCV.
1Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan
Correspondence to Akiko Okubo, Department of Ophthalmology, Kagoshima University Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, 8-35-1 Sakuragaoka, Kagoshima 890-8520, Japan
Manuscript no. 2005-21.
Supported by the Japanese Ministry of Education, Science, Sports and Culture, Tokyo, Japan (research grant no.: 17591844).
ABSTRACT