THE DARK CHOROID IN SYSTEMIC ARGYROSIS

Argyrosis is a cutaneous discoloration caused by silver. Ocular involv ement, including conjunctival and corneal discoloration, has been prev iously reported. To our knowledge, a retinal involvement was never rep orted and no data is available about fluorescein angiography patterns of patients with argyrosis. Fluorescein angiography was performed in s ix consecutive patients with iatrogenic systemic argyrosis. A dark cho roid was observed in each case. Red light monochromatic pictures discl osed a leopard spot pattern on the fundus, which was more clearly reve aled in one patient by infrared light pictures. These findings suggest that the silver deposit in Bruch's membrane may be responsible for th e obscuration of choroidal fluorescence during dye transit and for the visualization of choriocapillary units in pictures using long-wavelen gth light. The dark choroid is not only present in central retinal dys trophies, but may be observed in other conditions, such as systemic ar gyrosis.