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Comparison of clinical characteristics in patients with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy according to anti-retinal antibody status

  • Retinal Disorders
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

To evaluate the clinical characteristics of patients with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR), according to the presence or absence of anti-retinal antibodies (ARAs) that are frequently detected in autoimmune retinopathy.

Methods

Retrospective observational case series. This study included 33 patients with acute-stage AZOOR who had been followed up for more than 6 months after the initial visit. The median follow-up period was 26 months. Immunoblot analyses were used to detect autoantibodies for recoverin, carbonic anhydrase II, and α-enolase in serum from these patients. Main outcome measures comprised clinical factors at the initial and final visits, including best-corrected visual acuity, mean deviation on Humphrey perimetry, and retinal morphology, which were statistically compared between patients with AZOOR who exhibited ARAs and those who did not.

Results

At least one serum ARA was detected in 42% of patients with AZOOR. There were no significant differences in clinical factors between the two groups, including follow-up period, best-corrected visual acuity and mean deviation at the initial and final visits, a-wave amplitude on single-flash electroretinography at the initial visit, and frequencies of improvement of the macular ellipsoid zone and AZOOR recurrence.

Conclusions

Our findings suggest that the presence of ARAs did not influence visual outcomes or outer retinal morphology in patients with AZOOR.

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Mrs. Ikuyo Hirose (Hokkaido University) for her technical assistance.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine and Graduate School of Medicine, Hokkaido University, Nishi 7, Kita 15, Kita-ku, Sapporo,, 060-8638, Japan

    Yuki Hashimoto, Wataru Saito, Saho Kanaizumi, Michiyuki Saito, Kousuke Noda, Atsuhiro Kanda & Susumu Ishida

  2. Department of Orthoptics, Faculty of Medicine, Fukuoka International University of Health and Welfare, Fukuoka, Japan

    Yuki Hashimoto

  3. Kaimeido Eye and Dental Clinic, Sapporo, Japan

    Wataru Saito

Authors
  1. Yuki Hashimoto
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  2. Wataru Saito
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  3. Saho Kanaizumi
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  4. Michiyuki Saito
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  5. Kousuke Noda
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  6. Atsuhiro Kanda
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  7. Susumu Ishida
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Correspondence to Wataru Saito.

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Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. The current study was approved by the ethics committee of Hokkaido University Hospital (#020–0236).

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and any accompanying images.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Hashimoto, Y., Saito, W., Kanaizumi, S. et al. Comparison of clinical characteristics in patients with acute zonal occult outer retinopathy according to anti-retinal antibody status. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 259, 2967–2976 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05198-w

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-021-05198-w

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