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Klin Monbl Augenheilkd 2017; 234(04): 536-537
DOI: 10.1055/s-0042-122471
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Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Masking Artefact Indicates that Photoreceptor Bleaching May Enhance Fundus Autofluorescence

Eine Bleichung der Photorezeptoren durch den Masken-Effekt kann die Intensität der Fundus-Autofluoreszenz erhöhen
G. M. Somfai
1   Klinik Pallas, Olten, Switzerland (Director: Prof. Dr. Heinrich Gerding)
,
D. C. DeBuc
2   Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, Miami, FL, USA (Director: Prof. Dr. Eduardo Alfonso)
,
H. Gerding
1   Klinik Pallas, Olten, Switzerland (Director: Prof. Dr. Heinrich Gerding)
3   Dept. of Ophthalmology, University of Münster (Director: Prof. Dr. Nicole Eter)
› Author Affiliations
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Publication Date:
22 March 2017 (online)

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Introduction

The retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) is important in the understanding of retinal degenerations and aging [1]. It has many different roles, one of them being the primary site of synthesis of the 11-cis retinal that is required for the regeneration of bleached visual cycle photopigment. It is also known that the RPE progressively accumulates lipofuscin which is a byproduct of outer segment renewal. The autofluorescence of lipofuscin provides a valuable measurement tool for the assessment of the RPE layer in vivo and thus retinal autofluorescence imaging has become an important imaging modality for the diagnosis of retinal pathologies involving the RPE, with characteristic alterations in a number of pathologies [1], [2].

State-of-the-art, commercially available devices can provide fundus autofluorescence (FAF) images of the retina. Fluorescence imaging with the same devices is also crucial in the scanning-laser angiographic examination of retinal circulation where the luminescence of sodium-fluorescein is being semi-qualitatively analyzed [3].

Below we are describing our retrospective observations of increased fundus autofluorescence observed during routine scanning-laser angiography in areas of photoreceptor bleaching.

 

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