Purpose: The clinical significance of subretinal bleeding without choroidal neovascularization in pathologic myopia is unclear. Only two reports in the ophthalmic literature have demonstrated the clinical course of subretinal bleeding and have indicated that it might be a precursor of lacquer cracks. In this study, the authors observed the clinical course of subretinal bleeding in highly myopic eyes and studied this condition in relation to new lacquer crack formation.
Methods: The authors examined consecutively and prospectively 22 highly myopic eyes (19 patients) with subretinal bleeding. Indirect ophthalmoscopy and fluorescein fundus angiography were performed in all patients. Indocyanine green (ICG) angiography could be performed in three patients. The follow-up period ranged from 6 to 198 months (mean, 61.3 months).
Results: In 17 of 22 eyes, lacquer cracks appeared at the site of previous subretinal bleeding. The period for the formation of new lacquer cracks after the onset of the bleeding ranged from 2 to 6 months (mean, 4.0 months). In one patient, ICG angiography revealed linear hypofluorescence, indicating a ruptured Bruch's membrane at the onset of subretinal bleeding.
Conclusion: A rupture of Bruch's membrane and choriocapillaris complex results in subretinal bleeding, which is the first process of new lacquer crack formation. Atrophy of the overlying pigment epithelium and further scar formation results in the development of a lacquer crack.