Tuesday, April 6, 2010

FAMILIAL DOMINANT DRUSEN






These photos show the retina of a patient with familial dominant drusen. Normally the retina has a very smooth, unblemished look. In this case, the little white dots are called drusen. Drusen are deposits of lipid between the retina and the laster beneath it. Normally drusen are associated with macular degeneration. But macular degeneration doesn't start to show until about 60 years old.

This patient is 40 years old, and received news of this condition 4 or 5 years earlier. While this has the appearance of macular degeneration, it tends to be less vision threatening. It is very rare. This is probably the third one I've seen in my 15 year optometric career.

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