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

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.