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Danielle L Costa

Publications and source records attributed to Danielle L Costa.

5 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2002

Imaging the posterior segment in uveitis.

This article reviews established and newly developed posterior segment imaging techniques that may be helpful in the diagnosis and management of patients with uveitis. A brief description of various techniques is followed by a discussion of the situations in which these techniques might be useful in assessing the cause of vision loss, and the extent and activity of the inflammatory changes. The last section of the article describes selected uveitis syndromes wherein posterior segment imaging can reveal diagnostically characteristic, and in some instances pathognomonic, findings.

Choroid Diseases↗
PubMed2002

Multiple evanescent white dot syndrome in patients with multifocal choroiditis.

BACKGROUND: Controversy exists as to whether a common causal entity is responsible for multifocal choroiditis (MFC) and multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS). It is commonly known that patients with MEWDS can later develop manifestations of MFC, but the reverse is rarely seen. PURPOSE: To report cases of MEWDS in patients previously diagnosed with MFC. DESIGN: Retrospective case series. PARTICIPANTS: Four female patients 29 to 34 years old. METHODS: The charts of four patients with acute unilateral onset of MEWDS and evidence of previous MFC were examined retrospectively. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Photographic and angiographic interpretation of fundus appearance. RESULTS: At the time of diagnosis with typical MEWDS, one patient had a documented previous episode of acute MFC; one patient had previous bilateral choroidal neovascularization associated with discrete, posterior atrophic scars; and two patients had peripheral discrete chorioretinal pigmented lesions and peripapillary atrophy. CONCLUSIONS: MEWDS may occur after MFC. Now that both directions of disease progression, MFC to MEWDS and MEWDS to MFC, have been well documented, it is likely that there is a common host susceptibility between these two distinct clinical diseases, if not a common pathogenesis.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy.

Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy was first described as a peculiar hemorrhagic disorder of the macula, characterized by recurrent sub-retinal and sub-retinal pigment epithelium bleeding in middle aged black women. The use of indocyanine green angiography and subsequently of optical coherent tomography has widened our ability to study and understand the pathophysiology of this disorder. The primary abnormality involves the choroidal circulation, and the characteristic lesion is an inner choroidal vascular network of vessels ending in an aneurysmal bulge or outward projection, visible clinically as a reddish orange, spheroid, polyp-like structure. We have also recognized that individuals of African-American and Asian descents are more at risk for developing polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy as the disorder seems to preferentially affect pigmented individuals. However, it has been shown that while that still holds true, patients of other racial backgrounds may be afflicted. Particularly, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy has been found to be present in about 8-13% of white patients with clinical appearance of exudative age-related macular degeneration. Polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy has also been reported in Irish, French, German, and Italian patients. The natural course of the disease often follows a remitting-relapsing course, and clinically, it is associated with chronic, multiple, recurrent serosanguineous detachments of the retinal pigment epithelium and neurosensory retina with long-term preservation of good vision. Photodynamic treatment appears to be a promising alternative to conventional laser therapy, for the treatment of polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy. In conclusion, polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy seems to be a distinct clinical entity that should be differentiated from other types of choroidal neovascularization associated with age-related macular degeneration and other known choroidal degenerative, inflammatory, and ischemic disorders.

Choroid↗