Disciform degeneration of the macula. II. Pathogenesis
E. S. Gragoudas, S. R. Chandra, E. Friedman, M. L. Klein and M. Van Buskirk
Of 84 patients with unilateral disciform macular degeneration, 36 were
followed up for one to four years (average, 22 months). The fellow eye in
13 cases developed disciform lesions during that follow-up period. A
significantly greater number of drusen were found in the fellow eyes of
patients with unilateral disciform macular degeneration than in the eyes of
a comparable control group of patients (P less than .001). Furthermore, the
eyes with unilateral disciform macular degeneration that developed
disciform lesions in the other eye were characterized as a group by a
significantly larger number of drusen than those that did not. We postulate
that drusen are precursors of disciform macular degeneration in fellow eyes
and are probably manifestations of the same exudative process.
