Original articleAcute zonal occult outer retinopathy: a long-term follow-up study1☆,
Section snippets
Methods
Since 1986 one of us (J.D.M.G.) has maintained a follow-up study of every patient with AZOOR, either examined by him or referred to him as a mail consultation. This report is a prospective and retrospective study of 51 patients with AZOOR with a minimum of 3 years follow-up. One of us (J.D.M.G.) evaluated 41 patients at Bascom Palmer Eye Institute (BPEI) or Vanderbilt Eye Center (VEC). The medical records of 10 patients seen elsewhere were referred to J.D.M.G. for consultation. Questionnaires
Results
The 90 eyes of 51 patients with a median age of 33 years (mean, 36 years; range, 13–63 years) were followed for a median of 96 months (mean, 100 months; range, 36–420 months) (Table 1). Women were affected more often than men [37 (73%) vs 14 (27%), P < .0001]. Of the 43 patients with race recorded, 39 were Caucasian (91%), 3 were Hispanic (7%), and 1 was Asian (2%). At onset AZOOR involved one eye in 31 patients (61%) and both eyes in 20 patients (39%). Five patients were asymptomatic in the
Discussion
The acute loss of one or more zones of visual field, which is associated with photopsia in almost 90% of patients with AZOOR, is probably caused by a disorder affecting primarily the retinal photoreceptors. The pattern of the field defects is highly variable and cannot be explained on the basis of either choroidal or retinal vascular insufficiency. Acute zonal occult outer retinopathy is non-familial, is unassociated with consanguinity, and is unlikely to be a bizarre form of an acute-onset,
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Supported in part by a challenge grant from Research to Prevent Blindness, and by Alcon Research Institute Award (J.D.M.G.).
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InternetAdvance publication at ajo.com June 26, 2002.