Wide‐Field Angiography in the management of retinal vasculitis

Purpose To study the value of Wide‐Field angiography in the management of patients with retinal vasculitis. Methods A total of 48 eyes of 24 patients with systemic vasculitis underwent complete ophthalmic exam, followed by wide‐field retinal angiography (WF‐FA) with the Heidelberg Angiograph SLO using the Staurenghi contact lens. The primary outcome was diagnosing the extent of retinal vasculitis (RV) and monitoring disease activity. The secondary outcome was the percentage of patients whose management changed, based on the availability of WF–FA. Results WF‐FA assisted in revealing retinal vasculitis in 5 of 24 patients (20.8%), in 2 cases retinal vasculitis was not clinically evident. The extent was quantified in the 5 patients and the disease activity monitored in 3 patients. Three of 24 patients (12.5%) had management change: planning medical treatment or laser photocoagulation. Conclusions WF‐FA is a valuable technology in the management of patients with systemic vasculitis and can be used for the diagnosis, treatment and follow up of retinal vasculitis.