Optical Coherence Tomography : Clinicopathologic Correlations –

Background/Aims: Spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) has become a mainstay of ophthalmic practice that has revolutionized the assessment and treatment of a variety of ocular disorders. Studies that directly correlate SD-OCT and histopathology are necessary to demonstrate the actual nature of the retinal pathology responsible for the images that resemble histologic sections, but are generated by mathematical algorithms. Methods: Careful correlative light microscopy was performed on a small number of eyes undergoing enucleation for intraocular tumors that had pertinent findings imaged by SD-OCT. Expeditious processing and a fixation technique that prevented retinal detachment minimized tissue distortion and sectioning artifact. Results: The retinal layers disclosed by SD-OCT images do not correspond directly to light microscopy. Photoreceptor ellipsoids can persist in foveal detachments without a distinct ellipsoid band in corresponding SD-OCT images. Lipidized histiocytes can appear as bright hyperreflective spots, and clumps of subretinal macrophages as “shaggy photoreceptors” overlying choroidal tumors. Conclusion: Received: December 6, 2016 Accepted after revision: October 13, 2017 Published online: December 16, 2017 Ralph C. Eagle Jr., MD Department of Pathology, Wills Eye Hospital 840 Walnut Street, Suite 1410 Philadelphia, PA 19107 (USA) E-Mail reagle @ willseye.org © 2017 S. Karger AG, Basel