INDOCYANINE GREEN ANGIOGRAPHIC FINDINGS IN SERPIGINOUS CHOROIDOPATHY

Aims-Analysis of the choroidal findings in patients affected by serpig inous choroidopathy (SC). Methods-Thirteen patients (23 eyes; 11 males and two females; age range 50-68 years; mean age 59.1 years) affected by SC were examined with fluorescein angiography (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), The follow up period was 7-33 months. Resul ts-Using ICGA the disease could be divided into the the following stag es: (1) subclinical or choroidal stage (hypofluorescent lesions withou t FA evidence); (2) active stage (with ICGA and FA evidence); (3) subh ealing stage (slight late hyperfluorescent lesions with ICGA, with no evidence on FA); (4) inactive or healed stage (hypofluorescent areas w ith ICGA and hyperfluorescent areas with FA). Conclusions-Although FA showed a clear distinction between active and healed stages, ICGA allo wed a greater subdivision of the disease. In particular, ICGA allowed: (1) better staging of SC, revealing choroidal alterations when there was no ophthalmoscopic or FA evidence; (2) better identification of th e active lesions which appear to be larger at the choroidal level in c omparison with the corresponding retinal lesions; and (3) revealed a p ersistence of choroidal activity even when the signs of retinal activi ty had disappeared. Thus, ICGA should be a particularly useful clinica l and therapeutic monitoring tool of SC.