[Diffuse retinal epitheliopathy and central serous chorioretinopathy].

Follow-up examinations were conducted in 27 patients (51 eyes) affected by diffuse retinal pigment epitheliopathy (D.R.P.E.), over an average period of 37 months. This disease associates multiple subretinal foci of leakage resulting in retinal serous detachments (R.S.D.), often widespread alterations in retinal pigment epithelium, and frequent small serous detachments of retinal pigment epithelium. The course is chronic and recurrence of subretinal leakage is common. Involvement of macular pigment results in poor long-term visual prognosis. Features of these patients were compared with those of 138 patients affected by central serous choroidopathy (C.S.C.). Both D.R.E.P. and C.S.C. are more frequent in males, and demonstrate subretinal leakages and transient retinal serous detachments. Nevertheless, numerous data differentiate these two diseases, D.R.P.E. being detected at a later age (49 years) than C.S.C. (39 years). Bilaterality of the affection is more frequent in D.R.E.P. (88 p. cent) while serous detachment is less frequent in D.R.P.E. (31 p. cent) than in C.S.C. (82 p. cent). Small foci of subretinal leakage are present in both diseases but they are frequently multiple, scattered, extra-macular and mainly peripapillary in D.R.P.E.; they are chronic or recurrent and are present usually in an area of pigment epithelium depigmentation. These changes are often vertically oriented downwards towards the inferior periphery of the fundus. In D.R.P.E. there are frequently visual fields defects (70,5 p. cent) corresponding to the area of pigmentary involvement, dyschromatopsy (64 p. cent) and E.O.G. abnormalities (75 p. cent). D.R.P.E. and C.S.C. are two closely related diseases but they differ by the extent and diversity of the pigment epithelium lesions functional impairment, and visual prognosis. Photocoagulation of leaking spots resulting in macular detachment appears to be justified as in C.S.C. Long-term prognosis depends on the degree of extension of pigmentary changes into the macular area.