Background: Idiopathic polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (IPCV), the posterior uveal bleeding syndrome, and multiple recurrent serosanguineous pigment epithelial detachments in black women are a heterogeneous group of related entities seen in elderly hypertensive females. Similar associations are known for retinal arterial macroaneurysm (RAM).
Methods: This report documents the clinical, fluorescein, and indocyanine green videoangiographic findings of two elderly black female hypertensive patients who presented with IPCV, RAM, and hypertensive retinopathy.
Results: Clinical, fluorescein, and indocyanine green videoangiographic analysis of these two patients revealed hypertensive retinopathy, RAM, and anomalous polypoidal vascular networks associated with focal "bead-string" constrictions, terminal vascular loops, and polypoidal and pinpoint choroidal nodules.
Conclusion: Certain subgroups of IPCV and related entities and RAM may be pathophysiologically related as analogous hypertensive insults to the choroidal and retinal vascular beds.