Foveal hemorrhage in an eye with foveal hypoplasia associated with albinism

Abstract

Naonori Masuda, Taiji Hasegawa, Mariko Yamashita, Nahoko Ogata Department of Ophthalmology, Nara Medical University, Nara, Japan Abstract: Oculocutaneous albinism is a group of congenital disorders caused by alterations of melanin biosynthesis. We report our findings in a patient with oculocutaneous albinism who presented with foveal hypoplasia and a foveal hemorrhage. A 48-year-old man noted a dark spot in the middle of the visual field of his right eye. He had depigmented skin, white hair, white eyebrows, and white cilia. He also had horizontal nystagmus and depigmented irides. His best-corrected visual acuity was 2/100 with -14.0 diopters in the right eye and 3/100 with -5.0 diopters in the left eye. Ophthalmoscopy showed diffuse depigmentation in both eyes and a foveal hemorrhage in the right eye. Optical coherence tomography showed the absence of a foveal pit in both eyes and a subretinal hyperreflective lesion corresponding to the foveal hemorrhage in the right eye. Fluorescein angiography showed that the retinal and choroidal vessels were relatively hypofluorescent because of the lack of a blocking effect of the pigments in the retinal pigment epithelium. Fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography did not show any evidence of choroidal neovascularization in either eye. The foveal hemorrhage in the right eye spontaneously regressed and finally resolved at 3 months after onset. At the final examination, the patient reported that his vision had recovered. A foveal hemorrhage is a rare condition in an eye with foveal hypoplasia associated with albinism. The hemorrhage may be related to high myopia and also to the hypoplasia of the fovea associated with albinism. Keywords: albinism, foveal hemorrhage, foveal hypoplasia, simple hemorrhage