Not cat-scratch disease: Bartonella henselae neuroretinitis associated with non-feline pet mammals

To describe the ocurrence of Bartonella-associated neuroretinitis secondary to non-feline pet exposure, we retrospectively reviewed medical records and imaging from patients with a clinical and serologic diagnosis of Bartonella henselae (BH). Retinal imaging included color fundus photography, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and fluorescein angiography (FA). Four eyes of two patients with cat-scratch disease were included in this study, with a mean age of 35 years. The mean follow-up was 13 months, after presentation of infectious neuroretinitis. Both patients suffered from bilateral neuroretinitis after direct contact with family pets (ferret and guinea pig). All patients were treated with a long-term systemic antimicrobial therapy. Visual acuity in all improved to 20/30 or better at six months. In conclusion, humans may develop cat-scratch disease when they are exposed to Bartonella henselae (BH) in the saliva of infected cats or BH-containing flea feces reaching the systemic circulation through scratches or mucous membranes. As the cat flea (Ctenocephalides felis) may reside on non-feline mammals, Bartonella-associated neuroretinitis may result from contact with other furred family pets.

CUTICULAR DRUSEN: Risk of Geographic Atrophy and Macular Neovascularization

PURPOSE

Cuticular drusen (CD) have been associated with manifestations of age-related macular degeneration such as atrophy and neovascularization in the macula. In this study, eyes with CD were followed and investigated for the estimated 5-year risk of progression to sequelae of age-related macular degeneration such as geographic atrophy (GA) and macular neovascularization (MNV).

METHODS

A consecutive series of patients with CD were followed for the development of GA and MNV. Whenever possible, they were also studied retrospectively. The patients with CD were categorized into three phenotypic groups. Phenotype 1: eyes had concentrated, densely populated CD in the macular and paramacular area, Phenotype 2: eyes showed scattered CD in the posterior fundus, and Phenotype 3: involved eyes with CD mixed with large drusen (>200 µm). The 5-year incidence of progression was then estimated using a Kaplan-Meier estimator.

RESULTS

A total of 63 eyes from 38 patients (35 women with a mean age at presentation of 58.9 ± 14.2 years) were studied and followed for a mean of 40 ± 18 months. Thirteen patients had single eyes with GA (84.5%; 11/13) or MNV (15.5%; 2/13) in one eye at presentation and were subsequently excluded. Geographic atrophy developed in 19.0% (12/63) of eyes and MNV in 4.8% (3/63) of eyes. The cumulative estimated 5-year risk of GA and MNV was 28.4% and 8.7%, respectively. The estimated 5-year incidence of MNV or GA was 12.6%, 50.0%, and 51.6% in Phenotype 1, Phenotype 2, and Phenotype 3, respectively (P = 0.0015, log-rank test). No difference in risk was found in the development of GA or MNV (P = 0.11) between the subgroup of patients presenting with GA or MNV in their fellow eye and those with both eyes included.

CONCLUSION

When patients with CD are followed longitudinally, there was a significant risk of progression to GA or MNV for Phenotype 2 and Phenotype 3. Patients with CD are commonly first diagnosed in the fifth decade of life, and there is a female predominance. Clinicians should use multimodal imaging to detect and be aware of the risk of progression to manifestations of GA and MNV. These risks of GA and MNV suggest that patients with CD may be part of the overall spectrum of age-related macular degeneration.

The Fate and Prognostic Implications of Hyperreflective Crystalline Deposits in Nonneovascular Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Purpose

To explore patterns of disease progression in nonneovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) associated with hyperreflective crystalline deposits (HCDs) in the sub-retinal pigment epithelium-basal laminar space.

Methods

Retrospective review of medical records, multimodal imaging, and longitudinal eye-tracked near-infrared reflectance (NIR) and optical coherence tomography (OCT) spanning ≥2 years. NIR/OCT images were analyzed with ImageJ software to identify HCD morphology and location. Associated macular complications were reviewed from the time of HCD detection to the most recent follow-up, using NIR/OCT.

Results

Thirty-three eyes with HCDs from 33 patients (mean age: 72 ± 7.5 years) had 46.7 months (95% confidence limits: 33.7, 59.6) of serial eye-tracked NIR/OCT follow-up. Baseline best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 0.44 logMAR (Snellen equivalent 20/55). At a mean of 11.3 months (3.1, 19.6) after HCD detection, 31/33 (93.9%) eyes had developed macular complications including de novo areas of complete retinal pigment epithelium and outer retinal atrophy (cRORA) in 21/33 (64%) eyes, enlargement of preexisting cRORA in 4/33 (12%) eyes, and incident macular neovascularization in 3/33 (9%) eyes. Movement and clearance of HCDs in 9/33 (27%) eyes was associated with enlargement of preexisting cRORA (r = 0.44, P = 0.02). BCVA at the last follow-up visit had decreased to 0.72 logMAR (20/105).

Conclusions

Eyes with nonneovascular AMD demonstrating HCDs are at risk for vision loss due to macular complications, particularly when movement and clearance of these structures appear on multimodal imaging. HCD reflectivity and dynamism may be amenable to automated recognition and analysis to assess cellular activity related to drusen end-stages.

Association of Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography of Collaterals in Retinal Vein Occlusion With Major Venous Outflow Through the Deep Vascular Complex

Importance

Analysis of collateral vessel formation following retinal vein occlusion may advance our understanding of the venous outflow anatomy in the macula.

Objective

To determine the location of collateral vessels with optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography imaging.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Observational retrospective cohort study. Collateral vessel formation was studied with OCT angiography (OCTA) in patients with retinal vein occlusion (RVO). The study took place at 2 retinal practices (Vitreous Retina Macula Consultants of New York and Stein Eye Institute, University of California, Los Angeles), with patient records retrieved from March 2015 to August 2017. Data analysis was completed in November 2017.

Exposures

Collaterals identified with fundus photography and/or fluorescein angiography were analyzed with OCTA to determine their course through the superficial vascular plexus (SVP) and the deep vascular complex (DVC).

Main Outcomes and Measures

Collateral vessel pathways through the SVP and DVC were analyzed with cross-sectional and en face OCT and OCTA segmentation and color-coded volume renderings prepared from raw OCTA voxel data.

Results

From 23 eyes (22 branch and 1 hemispheric retinal vein occlusion ) of 23 patients (mean [SD] age, 73 [11] years), 101 collateral vessels were identified and analyzed (mean [SD], 4.4 [2.0]; range, 2-9 collateral per eye). On OCTA, the collaterals appeared as curvilinear dilated flow signals that connected veins across the horizontal raphe or veins on opposite sides of an occluded venous segment within the same retinal hemisphere. Of the 101 collaterals analyzed, all showed greater flow signal in the DVC, and all had some portion of their course identified within the DVC. No collaterals were found exclusively in the SVP. Volume renderings for 3 cases confirmed qualitatively that retinal collateral vessels course through the retina predominantly at the level of the DVC.

Conclusions and Relevance

Based on a limited number of cases, all collateral vessels associated with retinal vein occlusion were found to course through the DVC. The absence of collaterals isolated to the SVP supports a serial arrangement of the SVP and DVC, with venous drainage predominantly coursing through the DVC.

Long-Term Multimodal Imaging of Solar Retinopathy

This is a rare, multimodal imaging report spanning a decade of monitoring in a patient with chronic solar retinopathy showing the natural course of the disease. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) showed mild widening of subfoveal loss of ellipsoid and interdigitation zones bilaterally, progressive retinal pigment epithelial thinning in the right eye, and hyperplasia in the left eye. Structural en face OCT showed subfoveal tissue loss bilaterally. There was no leakage on fluorescein angiography and OCT angiography (OCTA), and dense B-scan OCTA images were unremarkable. Microperimetry revealed bilateral decreased central sensitivity and eccentric fixation in the left eye. Vision remained stable throughout. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:388-392.].

Focal Choroidal Excavation Following Blunt Trauma

The authors report a case of nonconforming focal choroidal excavation (FCE) identified in an eye following blunt, nonperforating trauma to the globe. Multimodal imaging was undertaken including color fundus photographs, enhanced depth imaging optical coherence tomography, fluorescein angiography, and fundus autofluorescence. This shows that FCE may result from blunt ocular trauma. The authors hypothesize that loss of structural support provided by an intact Bruch's membrane may be a key factor in precipitating the specific morphological changes associated with FCE occurring in a range of clinical settings. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2019;50:187-190.].

A proposed mechanism influencing structural patterns in X-linked retinoschisis and stellate nonhereditary idiopathic foveomacular retinoschisis

OBJECTIVE

To explore the structural differences between X-linked retinoschisis (XLR) and stellate nonhereditary idiopathic foveomacular retinoschisis (SNIFR) using swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA).

METHODS

A case series of two patients, a 9-year-old male with XLR and a 58-year-old woman with SNIFR were imaged with swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography (SS-OCTA; PLEX Elite 900, Carl Zeiss Meditec, Inc, Dublin, CA). Automated segmentation was manually adjusted to include the areas of retinoschisis within en face flow and structural slabs. The flow data were binarized using ImageJ 1.51s (Wayne Rasband, National Institutes of Health, USA, http://imagej.nih.gov.ij ) and superimposed onto the structural slab.

RESULTS

In the eye with XLR, OCTA flow data superimposed on the structural slab demonstrated flow signal within numerous bridging structures connecting the inner and outer plexiform layers containing the intermediate (ICP) and deep (DCP) capillary plexuses. In contrast, the same technique applied to the eye with SNIFR demonstrated an absence of flow signal in the cystic retinal spaces within Henle's fiber layer.

CONCLUSIONS

The vascular pattern of bridging vessels between the ICP and DCP is closely related to the structural "retinoschisis" pattern of XLR and appears to be structurally different from that seen in SNIFR. Moreover, the connecting vessels appear to be highly represented and regularly distributed, thereby supporting a serial arrangement of the retinal capillary plexuses within the perifoveal macula.

Paracentral Acute Middle Maculopathy and the Ischemic Cascade Associated With Retinal Vascular Occlusion

PURPOSE

To analyze the spectrum of ischemia associated with paracentral acute middle maculopathy (PAMM) in eyes with acute retinal vascular occlusion and to describe an ischemic cascade.

DESIGN

A retrospective observational case series.

METHODS

Patients presenting with PAMM secondary to acute retinal vascular occlusion were identified. Analysis of multimodal imaging was performed at baseline and at follow-up visits to elucidate the patterns and progression of ischemia within the retinal layers.

RESULTS

Multimodal retinal imaging from 16 eyes of 16 patients with acute retinal vascular occlusion associated with PAMM was studied. Analysis of en face optical coherence tomography (OCT) segmentation of the inner nuclear layer (INL) identified distinct patterns of PAMM correlating with the severity of ischemia and not the type of occlusion. A perivenular fern-like PAMM pattern was associated with better visual outcomes (average final visual acuity was 20/25). This pattern was noted to sequentially progress in 2 cases to a diffuse globular PAMM pattern in the INL, or to a pattern of ischemia involving both the middle and inner retinal layers with commensurate vision loss. Globular patterns of PAMM or ischemia involving both the middle and inner retina correlated with poorer visual outcomes (average final visual acuity was counting fingers at 5.5 ft). These various patterns of ischemia developed in eyes with retinal vascular occlusions in which blood flow through the retinal capillary plexuses was present but was significantly reduced and delayed.

CONCLUSIONS

This study describes OCT findings suggestive of an ischemic cascade in eyes with retinal vascular occlusion. The middle retina at the level of the deep capillary plexus, especially at the venular pole, may be more vulnerable to ischemic injury.

Effect of Antituberculous Therapy on Uveitis Associated With Latent Tuberculosis

PURPOSE

To describe the clinical features of patients with uveitis associated with latent tuberculosis (TB) and examine the effect of anti-TB treatment (ATT) on uveitis outcome.

DESIGN

Retrospective cohort study.

METHODS

One hundred ninety-nine eyes of 129 patients diagnosed with uveitis associated with latent TB were evaluated for recurrence of disease following treatment. Eighty-nine of the patients (69%) received ATT and information was gathered retrospectively regarding clinical outcome, vision, and treatment. Outcome measures included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and rate of disease recurrence.

RESULTS

This study included 89 patients (69%) who received ATT and 40 patients who did not. The uveitis was treated with local and systemic anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive therapy in all patients. The mean change in BCVA following treatment was 4.5 ± 1.4 letters over the follow-up period, with no difference between eyes of patients receiving ATT and those who did not. Sixty-eight eyes (34.9%) had a recurrence of uveitis (0.64 ± 0.08 recurrences per year), with eyes of patients receiving ATT less likely to develop a recurrence compared to those not receiving ATT (29.5% vs 48.2%, odds ratio 0.47, 95% confidence interval 0.29-0.77, P = .003). Eyes treated with ATT recurred at an estimated median of 120 months, compared with 51 months in eyes with no treatment (P = .005).

CONCLUSIONS

Treatment with ATT halved the risk of uveitis recurrence and delayed the onset of the first recurrence in eyes with uveitis associated with latent TB.