MORPHOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF EXUDATIVE RETINAL ARTERIAL MACROANEURYSMS - A GEOMETRICAL APPROACH TO EXUDATE CURVES

We studied morphometrically the color transparencies and fluorescein a ngiograms of 5 patients with six exudative retinal arterial macroaneur ysms. Our aim was to express the dependence of the exudate morphology upon the location of the macroaneurysm with an algebraic polynomial an alysis. We derived the second-degree conical equations of the exudate curves and computed the location of their cardinal descriptive paramet ers. The relationship between the site of the macroaneurysms and the c omputed hypothetical parameters of their exudate curves revealed that the structural features of the exudates are dependent upon the distanc e of the macroaneurysm to the foveola, the gravitational force and the clearing capacity of the venous net. The point where the macroaneurys m develops approximately 3 mm from the center of the macula seems to b e a 'crucial point'. Macroaneurysms located closer than this point may cause the exudates that occupy the fovea and create severe visual los s.