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Angioid Streaks

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  • First Online:
Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology

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Synonyms

Knapp streaks or Knapp striae.

Definition

Angioid streaks (AS) are irregular radiating jagged lines extending from the peripapillary area into the periphery with an ophthalmoscopic similarity to blood vessels. They result from breaks in calcified Bruch’s membrane and may appear in numbers with atrophy in the surrounding area. Fifty percent of patients have associated systemic disorders that include pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE), osteitis deformans (Paget’s disease), and various blood dyscrasias such as sickle cell anemia, fibrodysplasia hyperelastica (Ehlers-Danlos syndrome), and senile elastosis of the skin. Angioid streaks may lead to the development of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and macular degeneration (Piro et al. 1983), which can cause severe vision loss.

Disease

Angioid streaks were first described by Doyne in a case presentation to the Ophthalmologic Society of the United Kingdom (Doyne 1889). In 1892, Knapp coined the term angioid streak. Kofler, in 1916,...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Hotel Dieu, Medical University Paris V, 75004, Paris, France

    G. Soubrane

  2. Groupe Hospitalier Pitié Salpétrière, UPMC, 86 Boulevard de l’hôpital, 75013, Paris, France

    N. Massamba

  3. Department of Ophthalmology, Clinique Oxford, 06400, Cannes, France

    I. Aknin

  4. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Paris, 6e Arrondissement, 75006, Paris, France

    I. Aknin

  5. Department of Ophthalmology, MedPress, Tel Aviv, Israel

    S. Risard-Gasiorowski

Authors
  1. G. Soubrane
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  2. N. Massamba
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  3. I. Aknin
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  4. S. Risard-Gasiorowski
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to G. Soubrane .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Medical University of Wien Dept of Ophthal & Optometry,AKH, Wien, Austria

    Ursula Schmidt-Erfurth

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Goethe University of Frankfurt am Main Department of Ophthalmology, Frankfurt am Main, Germany

    Thomas Kohnen

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Soubrane, G., Massamba, N., Aknin, I., Risard-Gasiorowski, S. (2014). Angioid Streaks. In: Schmidt-Erfurth, U., Kohnen, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ophthalmology. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_1006-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-35951-4_1006-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-35951-4

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