| Abstract: | In a group of 182 patients of under 50 years of age with subretinal neovascularization, the syndrome of hemorrhagic macular choroidopathy of the young adult was identified in 30 cases. This syndrome is characterized by the occurrence of a juxtafoveolar idiopathic neovascular membrane in an eye normal in all other respects. The natural course of this lesion is the production of a fibroglial scar leading to a mean final visual acuity of 0.15. The syndrome remains unilateral in 75 p. cent of cases, as shown by a mean follow-up of 23.9 months. Photocoagulation of these new vessels is possible, and in a group of 19 eyes it allowed conservation of a mean acuity of 0.6. This syndrome differs from ocular histoplasmosis where widespread uni- or bilateral involvement of the pigment epithelium and choriocapillaris is found. Hemorrhagic macular choroidopathy can also be distinguished from choroiditis associated with hemorrhages. The existence or the sequellae of uveitis, even when associated with subretinal new vessels arising from an atrophic chorioretinal scar, establishes the correct diagnosis. The etiology of hemorrhagic macular choroidopathy is unknown. It is possible that multiple etiologic agents might be responsible for different clinical syndromes in relation to endemic factors. |
