Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to C G Pitta.
A 30-year-old woman with Alport's syndrome was noted to have unilateral retinal telangiectasia. Intravenous fluorescein angiography was performed to help establish the diagnosis. Photocoagulation was not done since visual acuity was good and there was no apparent threat at this time to central vision. To our knowledge, this is the first reported association of retinal telangiectasia with Alport's syndrome.
A bullous retinal detachment with breaks in all quadrants developed in the right eye of a 72-year-old man four weeks after he had undergone cataract extraction. The retina was reattached successfully with a 360-degree scleral buckle. Four weeks later, the retina had redetached and developed fixed folds and broad equatorial membranes. These features and the hazy vitreous suggested massive periretinal proliferation. Fourteen days later, the patient's visual acuity suddenly improved and an examination disclosed that the retina had spontaneously reattached. Visual acuity was 6/12 (20/40) and has remained stable for 14 months.
We studied nine cases of single, small, intraretinal foveal hemorrhages in one eye each of nine young adults during the last five years. The patients ranged in age from 18 to 47 years and were otherwise healthy. Four patients gave a history of strenuous exercise, most often weight lifting. The visual acuities ranged from 6/6 (20/20) to 6/60 (20/200) and most patients complained of a small central or paracentral scotoma. Fluorescein angiography did not show any retinal or choroidal vascular abnormalities and recovery of visual acuity was excellent in all patients available for follow-up examination during a period of two weeks to six months.
An unusual instance of a choroidal hemangioma occurred adjacent to a chorioretinal inflammatory scar in a 67-year-old white man. The hemangioma was treated with argon laser photocoagulation, which resulted in improved visual acuity and reattachment of the retina. We speculated on the potential role of the chorioretinal scar in altering local hemodynamics as an hypothesis for choroidal hemangioma development.