Echographic diagnosis of Drusen of the optic nerve head in patients with angioid streaks.

A total of 58 patients (116 eyes) with angioid streaks, referred to this department over 2 years (1990-1992), underwent a thorough ophthalmic examination, retinal fluorescein angiography, dermatological visit with skin biopsy, and a series of other examinations (blood and biochemistry, skull X-ray, vascular echo Doppler, abdominal ultrasound) and eye ultrasonography. Fifty patients (100 eyes, 86.2%) had pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE). In the whole caselist, 21.6% had drusen compared with 21.0% in the group with PXE. Both these findings are higher than those published elsewhere. Drusen of the optic nerve head were also found in 25% of the 16 eyes (8 patients) with angioid streaks but no PXE. We believe we found a higher prevalence of drusen of the optic nerve head in these patients with angioid streaks because we systematically employed ultrasound.