Retinal arteriovenous shunts in Takayasu disease.

The authors followed up on a series of 24 eyes in 12 patients with Takayasu disease in its moderate to advanced stage over the past 10 years. They paid particular attention to arteriovenous shunt formation in the retina. The authors could identify two types of arteriovenous shunts based on rapid sequence fluorescein angiography. In six eyes, arteriovenous shunts had formed at arteriovenous crossings through direct communication of arterial and venous lumen in the midperipheral retina. In 22 eyes, arteriovenous shunts had formed consequent to dilation of capillaries, formation of preferential channels, and obliteration of neighboring capillaries. These two types seemed to be basic patterns of discrete arteriovenous shunts that characterize Takayasu disease in its advanced stage.