34 - ACUTE POSTERIOR MULTIFOCAL PLACOID PIGMENT EPITHELIOPATHY

Summary

Acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE) is an ophthalmologic syndrome rather than a specific entity, characterized by multiple cream-colored placoid lesions located in the posterior pole "lying at the level of the pigment epithelium and choroids". The ophthalmoscopic hallmarks of APMPPE consist of creamcolored, flat, and discrete placoid, without clear-cut marginal lesions at the level of the retinal pigment epithelium, masking the fundus view of the underlying choroids, which typically involve the macula but are never seen anterior to the equator. The fact that cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) occur in patients with APMPPE strongly supports the thesis that it represents a particular "uveo-cerebral vasculitic syndrome". Various etiologies have been found (infectious/postinfectious; vaccinations; inflammations; autoimmune diseases; vasculitis; paraneoplastic syndrome). The neurological complications of APMPPE are headache, aseptic meningitis, encephalitis, multiple sclerosis-like disease, and pseudo tumor cerebri. CVDs associated with APMPPE consist of ischemic cortical strokes and deep infarcts with striatocapsular infarctions.