Diabetic retinal pigment epitheliopathy: fundus autofluorescence and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography findings

Abstract

PURPOSE: To describe the characteristics of an unfamiliar disease entity, diabetic retinal pigment epitheliopathy (DRPE), using fundus autofluorescence (FAF) and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).

METHODS: This retrospective study included 17 eyes from 10 proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR) patients with granular hypo-autofluorescence and/or variable hyper-autofluorescence on FAF (DRPE group) and 17 eyes from 10 age- and sex-matched PDR patients without abnormal autofluorescence (PDR group). Eyes with diabetic macular edema were excluded. Visual acuity (VA), retinal thickness (RT), and choroidal thickness (CT) were compared between the groups.

RESULTS: Eyes in the DRPE group had worse logMAR VA than eyes in the PDR group (0.369?±?0.266 vs. 0.185?±?0.119; P?=?0.026). The thickness of the retinal pigment epithelium plus the inner segment/outer segment of the photoreceptors was reduced to a greater degree in the DRPE group than the PDR group (P?<?0.001). Moreover, the thickness of the outer nuclear layer plus the outer plexiform layer was thinner in the DRPE group than in the PDR (P?=?0.013). However, the thickness of the inner retina showed no differences between the two groups. CT was significantly thicker in the DRPE group than in the PDR group (329.00?±?33.76 vs. 225.62?±?37.47 μm; P?<?0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: Eyes with DRPE showed reduced VA, a thinner outer retina, and thicker choroid in comparison with eyes with PDR. Alterations of autofluorescence on FAF and changes in the outer retinal thickness and CT on SD-OCT can be helpful for differentiating DRPE in patients with PDR.