Optical coherence tomography and fundus autofluorescence findings in presumed congenital simple retinal pigment epithelium hamartoma

Abstract

Aim: Presumed congenital simple retinal pigment epithelium hamartoma is a rare benign lesion of the macula that mimics congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and combined hamartoma of the retina and the RPE; newer imaging modalities can help in diagnosis. We report three patients with presumed congenital simple RPE hamartoma, and describe the enhanced-depth imaging optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) and fundus autofluorescence (FAF) findings. Methods: Two patients were asymptomatic; one had an intraocular foreign body in addition to the hamartoma. All had a similar jet black, elevated lesion in the macula, sparing the fovea. EDI-OCT showed a characteristic hyperreflective layer with complete optical shadowing of the deeper layers; FAF showed pronounced hypoautofluorescence of the lesion. Conclusion: Multimodal imaging with FAF and EDI-OCT can help to differentiate simple RPE hamartoma from similar RPE lesions, and may serve as a useful adjunct to clinical diagnosis of this rare tumor. We present the second largest series of presumed congenital simple RPE hamartoma, and – to the best of our knowledge – the first report of FAF findings of this tumor.

Keywords

• congenital simple RPE hamartoma
• RPE tumors
• autofluorescence
• optical coherence tomography