Breakdown of the blood-retinal barriers and cystoid macular edema

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Abstract

After reviewing the definition, incidence and main etiologic factors of cystoid macular edema (CME) the authors analyze the structural and physiologic characteristics of the macular area, including the blood-retinal barriers, and the basic concepts of retinal edema. Personal observations on three different groups of diseases associated with CME, retinitis pigmentosa, pars planitis and aphakia, are presented. CME evaluation was made by slit-lamp microscopy, fluorescein angiography and vitreous fluorophotometry. In the situations examined, the main factors involved in CME formation appear to be a marked increase in blood-retinal-barrier permeability and alterations in retinal tissue compliance.

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This work was supported in part by Core grant EY 1972 from the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, MD, and by Centro de Oftalmologia da Universidade de Coimbra, INIC, Portugal.

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