Spectral optical coherence tomography findings in patients with ocular toxoplasmosis and active satellite lesions (MINAS Report 1).

PURPOSE

To characterize the active retinochoroiditis lesion observed in patients with the classic clinical presentation of ocular toxoplasmosis (OT) utilizing spectral optical coherence tomography (SOCT).

METHODS

Twenty-four patients with OT and satellite lesions underwent standardized ophthalmologic examination and multimodal fundus imaging. The SOCT findings observed at presentation were described.

RESULTS

The mean age of the fourteen (58.3%) women and ten (41.7%) men was 27.6 years. The mean LogMAR ETDRS best-corrected visual acuity was 0.58 (Snellen equivalent, 20/80(+1) ). On SOCT evaluation, the posterior hyaloid was diffusely thickened in 23 (95.8%) of 24 eyes, increased hyper-reflective signals in the vitreous were observed in 18 (75.0%), and vitreal spherical hyper-reflective depositions were observed in 12 (50.0%) eyes. In all patients, at the active OT lesion site, the inner retinal layers were abnormally hyper-reflective with full-thickness disorganization of the retinal reflective layers (smudge effect); associated choriocapillaris/choroidal optical shadowing was observed in 22 (91.7%) eyes. The retina was thickened in 22 (91.7%) eyes, the retinal pigment epithelium-Bruch membrane reflective complex was focally increased or contained focal splits in 16 (66.7%) eyes and the choroid appeared thickened in 17 (70.8%) eyes. Disorganization of the outer retinal highly reflective layers adjacent to the active OT lesion was observed in all eyes.

CONCLUSION

Full-thickness disorganization of the retinal reflective layers, generally associated with some degree of posterior optical shadowing, was observed in the active OT lesion in all patients. The posterior hyaloid was often thickened and, adjacent to the OT lesion, the outer retina was consistently altered.