Multimodal imaging of aberrant macular microvessel crossing the foveal avascular zone in two young adults

Abstract

Background: The traditional view is that there are no vessels in the foveal avascular zone. The two cases we report show microvessels crossing the foveal avascular zone. Case presentation: A man and a woman, both 25 years old, were both incidentally found on optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) to have unilateral aberrant microvessels crossing the foveal avascular zone in their left eyes. Visual acuity was preserved in both patients. The vessel density (VD) and perfusion density (PD) of the eyes with the aberrant microvessels were all higher than those of the contralateral eyes. Nevertheless, measurements of foveal avascular zone (FAZ) dimensions, including its area, perimeter and circularity, were smaller in the left eyes than in the right eyes. No complications were recorded. Conclusions: To date, aberrant microvessels crossing the foveal avascular zone have not been found to impair visual function. OCTA is a non-invasive and quick method that does not require dilation or the use of fluorescein dye. It is a reliable tool for the detection of aberrant microvessels crossing the foveal avascular zone.

Multimodal imaging of congenital retinal macrovessel with secondary foveal hypoplasia

“…CRM in this patient had two another atypical feature. First, the macrovessel is usually seen to circumscribe around the foveola and rarely pass through its centre 4 10–12. However, the macrovessel passed through the centre of the FAZ in this patient.…”

Congenital Retinal Macrovessel Without Any Ophthalmic Complications: A Case Report

“…The presence of CRM caused the distortion of the FAZ, though the FAZ diameter was almost equal to the fellow eye. Previous reports of CRM have documented FAZ that were small or with interocular asymmetry [ 1 , 14 ].…”

Congenital retinal macrovessel with intracranial venous malformation in a pediatric patient: a case report

“…C ongenital retinal macrovessel (CRM) is defined as an abnormal large retinal vessel that encircles the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) [1] . Since the first description of a large aberrant vessel crossing the macula by Mauthner [2] in 1868, there have been several case reports about CRM [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10] . And recently, Pichi et al [1] reported clinical manifestations and multimodal retinal imaging of 49 eyes with CRM.…”