Clinical Features and Course of Patients with Peripheral Exudative Hemorrhagic Chorioretinopathy

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients who were followed in our clinic with the diagnosis of peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy (PEHC). MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medical records of 12 patients who were diagnosed with PEHC in İstanbul University İstanbul Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology between July 2006 and June 2014 were reviewed retrospectively. RESULTS: This study included 21 eyes of 12 patients. Four (33.3%) of the patients were male and 8 (66.7%) were female and ages ranged between 73 and 89 years. Eight (66.7%) of the patients were referred to us with the diagnosis of choroidal mass. Unilateral involvement was found in 3 and bilateral involvement in 9 patients. Temporal quadrants were involved in all eyes. Fifteen eyes (71.4%) had subretinal hemorrhage and hemorrhagic/serous retinal pigment epithelial detachment, 11 (52.4%) had lipid exudation, 5 (23.8%) had chronic retinal pigment epithelium alterations, 2 (9.5%) had subretinal fibrosis and 1 (4.8%) had vitreous hemorrhage. PEHC lesions were accompanied by drusen in 11 eyes (52.4%), geographic atrophy in 2 eyes (9.5%), and choroidal neovascularization scar in 2 eyes (9.5%). Treatment was done in both eyes of a patient for lesions which threatened the macula, in a patient with bilateral macular edema and in a patient with vitreous hemorrhage. The remaining eyes were followed-up without any treatment because the lesions did not threaten the macula and they showed no progression during follow-up. CONCLUSION: PEHC is a degenerative disease of peripheral retina that is seen in older patients, and signs of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) may accompany this pathology. Especially in patients with AMD findings, the peripheral retina must be evaluated carefully for existing PEHC lesions.