A 15-YEAR-OLD BOY WITH PROTRACTED VISION LOSS FROM ACUTE POSTERIOR MULTIFOCAL PLACOID PIGMENT EPITHELIOPATHY

Acute Posterior Multifocal Placoid Pigment Epitheliopathy (APMPPE): A Comprehensive Approach and Case Series: Systemic Corticosteroid Therapy Is Necessary in a Large Proportion of Cases

Background and objectives: Acute posterior multifocal pigment epitheliopathy/acute multifocal ischaemic choriocapillaritis (APMPPE/AMIC) is part of the group of choriocapillaritis entities. The aim of this article was to report a series of patients with emphasis on the clinical presentation and treatment paradigms. Materials and Methods: Retrospective case series study performed in the Centre for Ophthalmic Specialised care (COS), Lausanne, Switzerland, on patients diagnosed from 2000 to 2021 with APMPPE/AMIC. Procedures performed at presentation and upon follow-up (when available) included best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), routine ocular examination, laser flare photometry (LFP) microperimetry (when available) and visual field testing. Imaging investigations included spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)/enhanced depth imaging OCT (EDI-OCT), OCT angiography (OCT-A) as well as fluorescein and indocyanine green angiography (FA, ICGA). The presence or not of prodromal systemic viral-like symptoms was noted. The localisation of lesions whether foveal or extrafoveal, divided the patients into 2 groups (foveal, peri-or parafoveal). Exclusion criteria were patients diagnosed with APMPPE/AMIC and a positive QuantiFERON test and/or VDRL-TPHA tests. Results: Nineteen (35 eyes) of 1664 new patients (1.14%) were diagnosed with APMPPE/AMIC and included in our study. 13 (68%) were male and 6 (32%) were female. The mean age was 33.1 ± 9.2 years. 16 (84%) patients mentioned a viral prodromal episode or other systemic symptoms, and 3 (16%) did not mention any episode before the onset of ocular symptoms. 15 (39%) out of 38 eyes had foveal localisation of the lesions, 20 (52.6%) had peri- or para-foveal localisations and 3 eyes were normal [3 unilateral cases (15%)]. Mean BCVA at presentation was 0.83 ± 0.24 for the whole group. It was 0.58 ± 0.28 for the group with foveal lesions, increasing to 0.97 ± 0.13 at last follow-up (p = 0.0028). For the group with extrafoveal lesions mean BCVA at presentation was 0.94 ± 0.18, improving to 1.18± 0.10 at last follow-up (p = 0.0039). 13 (68%) patients received prednisone treatment, of whom 2 (10%) received additionally at least one immunosuppressive agent, 4 (20%) patients received no treatment and in 2 patients the information was unavailable. All patients in the foveal lesion group received corticosteroid treatment except one who evolved to bilateral macular atrophy. Conclusions: APMPPE/AMIC is a primary choriocapillaritis. Although it is thought that the disease is self-limited, treatment is necessary in most cases, especially when lesions are located in the fovea.

Diagnosis and Treatment of Primary Inflammatory Choriocapillaropathies (PICCPs): A Comprehensive Overview

Purpose: Primary inflammatory choriocapillaropathies (PICCPs) belong to a group of intraocular inflammatory diseases with the common characteristic of inflammatory choriocapillaris hypo- or non-perfusion as the main clinicopathological mechanism. The purpose of our article is to describe clinical characteristics and multimodal imaging, that can help the diagnosis and treatment of PICCPs. Methods: Narrative review with multimodal imaging analysis. Results: Choriocapillaris non-perfusion can affect the end-choriocappilaries, at the benign end of the PICCP spectrum (MEWDS), to larger choriocapillaris vessels or precapillary vessels at the origin of more severe forms such as acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE), idiopathic multifocal choroiditis (MFC) and Serpiginous Choroiditis (SC). Diagnosis is mostly based on multimodal imaging and especially on indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT)/OCT-angiography (OCT-A). ICGA shows the typical pattern of patchy lobular hypofluorescence reflecting hypo- or non-perfusion of the choriocapillaris that can also take the aspect of geographic areas in the more severe forms. Treatment depends on the severity of the disease and goes from observation in MEWDS and some mild cases of APMPPE, to oral corticosteroid and/or immunomodulator agents in the more severe conditions of APMPPE and MFC and SC cases. Close multimodal monitoring is crucial in order to introduce or adjust treatment. Conclusion: PICCPs are resulting from one common clinicopathological mechanism, inflammatory choriocapillaris hypo- or non-perfusion. ICGA findings are essential for the diagnosis and follow-up of PICCPs, but non-invasive methods such as FAF and SD-OCT/OCT-A also have their role especially in follow-up of the diseases. Treatment should be individualized according to the pathology and the evolution of lesions.