Peripheral Vascular Abnormalities Detected by Fluorescein Angiography in Contralateral Eyes of Patients With Persistent Fetal Vasculature

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: To describe peripheral retinal vascular abnormalities in the contralateral eyes of patients with unilateral persistent fetal vasculature (PFV). PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective medical record review of fluorescein angiography (FA) findings of patients with unilateral PFV. Width of the temporal peripheral avascular retina in contralateral eyes was measured in disc diameters (DD). Vascular abnormalities were described. RESULTS: In 45 included patients, mean width of temporal peripheral avascular areas in contralateral eyes was 1.07 +/- 0.71 DD. Forty-three patients (95.6%) had temporal peripheral avascular areas of 1 DD or greater in contralateral eyes, with 16 having temporal peripheral avascular areas of 2 DD or greater. Vessel shunts, vascular tortuosity and dilatation, circumferential vessels, and abnormal capillary beds in the peripheral retina were observed in 23 (51.1%) contralateral eyes of patients with unilateral PFV. CONCLUSION: PFV patients should undergo careful evaluations of both eyes, preferably with FA, to identify vascular changes that are not visible clinically.