Jimmy K Lee | Search PubMed

PubMed2003

Optical coherence tomography of branch retinal vein occlusion.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the incidence of serous retinal detachment (SRD) secondary to a branch retinal vein occlusion (BRVO) by using optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS: Fourteen eyes of 14 patients with a BRVO underwent a detailed history, ophthalmoscopic examination, and fluorescein angiographic evaluation. They were also studied with OCT. RESULTS: The 14 patients included eight women and six men with a mean age of 73.6 +/- 10.5 years (range, 55-90 years). Four eyes were found to have cystoid macular edema by fluorescein angiography, whereas 10 cases were detected by OCT. SRD involving any portion of the macula was found in 10 (71.4%) of the 14 eyes, and SRD extending into the fovea was found in six (42.9%) eyes. Two (14.3%) of the 14 patients also showed a subfoveal hemorrhage that appeared to have gravitated inferiorly through the SRD to the dependent portion of the detachment. CONCLUSIONS: That few patients with SRD secondary to a BRVO discovered by ophthalmoscopy have been reported in the literature would suggest that this is an uncommon complication. The authors found with OCT that SRD commonly occurs in BRVO. In addition, subretinal hemorrhage may occur in the context of BRVO, and the authors propose that blood gravitates through the subretinal fluid to settle behind the retina.

Aged↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Diffusion imaging in obstructive hydrocephalus.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Hydrocephalus causes transependymal resorption of spinal fluid that in turn produces periventricular interstitial edema. This study was performed to determine if diffusion imaging can demonstrate this interstitial edema in the periventricular region in patients with obstructive hydrocephalus and if it can be used to assess the treatment response. METHODS: Twenty-one patients with obstructive hydrocephalus were evaluated with MR diffusion imaging before and after treatment. The change in ventricular size was measured by using the frontal and occipital horn ratio. The signal intensity abnormalities in periventricular white matter were scored. Average diffusion constants (D(av)) in the periventricular white matter were measured before and after treatment and compared with normal values. Post-treatment resolution of MR imaging abnormalities and changes in ventricular volume were compared with changes in D(av). RESULTS: D(av) measured from periventricular white matter was increased in hydrocephalic patients compared with age-matched control subjects by a mean of 6.9% (P <.02). After treatment, D(av) decreased by an average of 6.0%: D(av) decreased in 11 patients (53%), it remained essentially unchanged in seven (33%), and it increased in three (14%). CONCLUSION: For patients with obstructive hydrocephalus, diffusion is usually increased in the periventricular white matter. Therefore, increased D(av) may be a clinically useful sign of hydrocephalus, and it may prove useful in cases with equivocal clinical or imaging findings. Measurement of D(av) may be valuable in assessing the treatment response in these patients because D(av) usually decreases toward normal levels with successful treatment.

Adolescent↗