Original articleOuter Retinal Hyperreflective Spots on Spectral-Domain Optical Coherence Tomography in Macular Telangiectasia Type 2
Section snippets
Patients and Methods
Forty-one patients with MacTel type 2 were recruited at the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, a tertiary referral center participating in the Macular Telangiectasia Project (http://www.mactelresearch.org). This international research program is being conducted in 7 countries with 5 basic science laboratories and 22 clinical centers to evaluate the natural history and pathophysiologic features of this condition. The study adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki; the
Results
The patients' mean age was 65 years (range, 54–75 years). There were 22 females and 19 males. A total of 79 eyes were included, and 3 eyes were excluded because of a history of focal laser photocoagulation.
Discussion
This study demonstrated hyperreflective spots on high-resolution SD OCT scans in the outer retinal layers associated with MacTel type 2. Interestingly, such spots occur already in preclinical stages of disease and thus may be helpful in the early diagnosis and identification of affected individuals. The precise nature and molecular constituents of these spots are yet unknown. Various possibilities and pathways may be considered. The authors suggest that these hyperreflective spots and bands are
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Manuscript no. 2009-1212.
Financial Disclosure(s): The author(s) have made the following disclosure(s):
Heidelberg Engineering provided the Department of Ophthalmology, University of Bonn, with the Spectralis HRA+OCT free of charge.
Professor Dr. med. Frank G. Holz, MD, received lecture and travel fees.
Dr. med. Peter Charbel Issa, MD, FEBO and Dr. med. Steffen Schmitz-Valckenberg, MD, FEBO, received lecture fees.
Supported by the Lowy Medical Research Institute, Sydney, Australia; a Marie Curie Intra-European Fellowship (no.: 237238), Seventh European Community Framework Program, European Commission, Brussels, Belgium; BONFOR Program, Faculty of Medicine, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany (grant no.: O-137.0011).
Spectralis HRA+OCT: Heidelberg Engineering GmbH, Tiergartenstraße 15, 69121 Heidelberg, Germany.
The sponsors or funding organizations had no role in the design or conduct of this research. The contents of this publication reflect only the author's views and not the views of the funding organizations.