Swept Source Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography Findings in Birdshot Chorioretinitis: A Cross Sectional Study of 21 Patients

ABSTRACT

Purpose

Birdshot chorioretinitis (BSCR) is a form of posterior uveitis that is classically characterized by hypopigmented choroidal lesions outside of the major arcades. However, little is known about the extent of choroidal involvement in the macula. We aim to describe the vascular abnormalities observed at the level of the choriocapillaris (CC) in the maculae of BSCR patients, using swept source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA).

Methods

A cross-sectional, observational study was conducted. Eligible patients underwent clinical examination and SS-OCTA imaging. The main outcome measures were the frequency of vascular abnormalities observed at the level of the CC on SS-OCTA and foveal choriocapillaris vascular density (CVD).

Results

Twenty-one patients were included, with a median age of 61.5 years. All patients had bilateral disease with a median disease duration of 6 years. All but one patient received systemic immunosuppressive drug therapy, and 19 patients had suppressed inflammation on treatment at the time of the SS-OCTA assessment. Of the 42 affected eyes, 39 (92.9%) had gradable SS-OCTA images, with a mean LogMAR visual acuity of 0.18 (Snellen equivalent 20/30). In total, 34 of 39 (87.2%) eyes had some degree of pathologic flow loss, and after controlling for patient age and disease activity, both worse VA and longer disease duration remained statistically significantly associated with reduced foveal CVD.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that pathologic CC flow loss in the macula is frequently encountered and may contribute to visual function decline in patients with BSCR. Further studies with longitudinal follow-up are needed to characterize the evolution of these areas of pathologic CC flow loss over time.

KEYWORDS:

• Birdshot chorioretinitis
• choriocapillaris
• optical coherence tomography angiography
• swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography
• vascular density

Disclosure statement

Dr Arevalo receives grant support from Topcon Medical Systems, Inc. Dr Thorne receives funding from the Wilmer Birdshot Research Fund. There are no additional conflicts of interest and relevant financial disclosures to declare.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported that there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.