Comments and Conclusions
- The cases above demonstrate the importance of SD-OCT in the identification of the unique reflective characteristics of the presented retinal abnormalities.
- The most common white dots and spots are exudates and drusen.
- Exudates, typically in the outer plexiform retina and drusen under the RPE, and are easily differentiated with SD- OCT.
- SD-OCT reveals the location of dots and spots never recognized previously, such as the fundus albi dots that straddle the PIL.
- Edema residues or retinal precipitates in central serous are revealed by SD-OCT as accumulating on the outer surface of the outer segments of the photoreceptors.
- Many dots and spots are smaller than 25 microns and hence invisible to ophthalmoscopy, but easily detected and localized with SD-OCT.
- Exudates in diabetic retinopathy exemplifies this point, as perhaps 20 times as many exudates are detected with SD- OCT than with ophthalmoscopy and standard photography. For example, see Retina Revealed: Case #16 – NVD and Traction RD.