Juxtafoveal telangiectasis - A name change?

A surgically excised lesion from a patient with occult exudative group 2A stage 5 idiopathic juxtafoveolar retinal telangiectasis was examined by scanning electron microscopy. The term "retinal telangiectasis" was first coined by Reese in 1956 to describe the retina's unusual capillary/vascular response to Coats disease and is now used to characterize a wide range of idiopathic retinal vascular diseases.(1,2) Gass and Oyakawa(3) and subsequently Gass and Blodi(4) introduced idiopathic juxtafoveolar retinal telangiectasis (IJT) to describe a classification of the various clinical types of telangiectasis confined to the juxtafoveolar retina. Because no etiology is associated with this phenomenon, IJT is merely a descriptive term. We report a case of IJT, Gass group 2A stage 5, in which a surgical specimen was obtained. Preoperatively, enlarged feeding arterioles and draining venules were noted. Postoperatively, these vessels were greatly reduced in caliber. We conclude that Gass group 2A stage 5 IJT may represent a developmental/congenital retinal vascular malformation.