Ultrasound biomicroscopy for detection of breaks and detachment of the ciliary epithelium.

PURPOSE: To elucidate details of the pathologic changes in the ciliary epithelium associated with atopic dermatitis and blunt ocular trauma.

METHODS

We examined prospectively 52 eyes of 42 patients with detachment of the nonpigmented epithelium of the ciliary body associated with atopic dermatitis and blunt ocular trauma. All the eyes underwent ultrasound biomicroscopic examination as an adjunct to binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy with scleral depression and slit-lamp biomicroscopy.

RESULTS

Of the 52 eyes examined, high-resolution ultrasound biomicroscopy and conventional diagnostic methods (that is, binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy with scleral depression and slit-lamp biomicroscopy) disclosed breaks at the anterior vitreous base border in 40 eyes, at the pars plicata of the ciliary body in 27 eyes, and at the white midline (that is, the line located in the mid pars plana anterior to the anterior vitreous base border) in four eyes. In 40 eyes the breaks at the anterior vitreous base border could be detected with conventional methods but in only 28 eyes could they be diagnosed with ultrasound biomicroscopy. Conversely, in 27 eyes the breaks of the pars plicata could be observed with ultrasound biomicroscopy but in 25 eyes they were detected with conventional methods. In 21 eyes with breaks only at the anterior vitreous base border, the detachment of the nonpigmented ciliary epithelium was limited posterior to the white midline. In all 27 eyes with the nonpigmented ciliary epithelial detachment anterior to the white midline, the breaks of the pars plicata were identified by ultrasound biomicroscopy.

CONCLUSION

Because of the minimum deformation of the globe during examination, ultrasound biomicroscopy contributed to the diagnosis of detailed structural change in the ciliary body associated with atopic dermatitis and blunt ocular trauma in relation to the white midline. In our sample of patients, the white midline may act as a barrier against ciliary nonpigmented epithelial detachment, and detachment of the nonpigmented epithelium anterior to the white midline indicated the presence of the pars plicata break in most cases.