Multimodal Imaging Characteristics of a Large Retinal Capillary Macroaneurysm in an Eye With Severe Diabetic Macular Edema: A Case Presentation and Literature Review

Abstract

Though microaneurysms are the hallmark of diabetic retinopathy (DR), large aneurismal changes termed as ''macroaneurysms'' (MAs) may also occur in the course of chronic diabetic macular edema. MAs are usually accompanied by intraretinal hard exudates, fluid accumulation and retinal hemorrhages. Detection of MAs is clinically important as it implies that macular edema is usually chronic and therefore can be resistant to intravitreal anti-vascular endothelial growth factor injections. Multimodal imaging consisting of fluorescein angiography (FA), indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), optical coherence tomography (OCT) or OCT-angiography (OCTA) can be performed to detect and understand the nature of MA and thereby select proper treatment modality. Herein, we report multimodal imaging features of a 64-year-old woman with insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus presented with treatment naïve severe macular edema and a macroaneurysm at the right temporal macula. In conclusion, FA, ICGA and OCT seem to be far superior to OCTA to detect these lesions due to probable slow flow inside the MA.