97th DOG Annual Meeting 1999
K436
FOLLOW UP OF THE CHANGES IN FUNDUS AUTOFLUORESCENCE IN MACULAR DYSTROPHIES
A. von Rückmann, K.-G. Schmidt, F. Fitzke, A. C. Bird
The technique of in vivo imaging of fundus autofluorescence gives quantitative information on the distribution of lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium [1]. We studied the dynamics of lipofuscin accumulation and degradation in patients with macular dystrophies (MD).
Methods: Serial examinations of the spatial distribution of fundus autofluorescence were performed in 128 eyes of 64 patients with MD using a confocal Laser Scanning Ophthalmoscope (Zeiss, Oberkochen, excitation wavelength: 488 nm; filter at 521 nm) over a period of 3-4 years.
Results: All forms of macular dystrophies were associated with high levels of background autofluorescence. The pale deposits at the level of the retinal pigment epithelium in Best's disease, adult vitelliform macular dystrophy, pattern dystrophies and fundus flavimaculatus were consistently associated with higher levels of autofluorescence than the background signal. Background autofluorescence and the intensity of autofluorescence of focal deposits changed over time in almost all eyes studied. Autofluorescence intensity decreased in areas of retinal atrophy over time.
Conclusion: Changes of the distribution of autofluorescence occur in eyes with MD over time. Fundus autofluorescence imaging allows in vivo analysis of the dynamics of accumulation and degradation of lipofuscin in the retinal pigment epithelium in eyes with MD and documentation of progression of disease.
[1] von Rückmann A. et al. Fundus autofluorescence in age related
macular disease imaged with a laser scanning ophthalmoscope.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 1997; 38(2): 478-86
Support: DFG (Ru 575/1-1, 1-2), Medical Research Council, UK
Univ.-Augenklinik Giessen, Friedrichstraße 18, D - 35385 Giessen
Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorefields Eye Hospital, City Road, London, U.K.
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