Parafoveal telangiectasis and diabetic retinopathy
E. Y. Chew, R. P. Murphy, D. A. Newsome and S. L. Fine
Five patients with mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy had visual
loss associated with parafoveal telangiectasis. Minimal macular edema with
characteristic parafoveal plaques of subretinal pigment epithelial
hyperplasia was seen in all patients. Fluorescein angiography revealed the
presence of ectatic, dilated, leaking perifoveal capillaries. The
occurrence of parafoveal telangiectasis in patients with diabetic
retinopathy has, to our knowledge, not been previously described. One
previous clinicopathologic report described the histologic appearance of
parafoveal telangiectasis in a nondiabetic patient to be similar to that
seen in diabetic patients. The association of parafoveal telangiectasis and
diabetic retinopathy raises interesting speculations into the pathogenesis
of the entity of parafoveal telangiectasis. In addition, the importance of
obtaining fluorescein angiography prior to therapy of diabetic macular
edema is emphasized.
