Coats' Disease

*What is Coats' Disease?*

Coats' Disease, also known as Exudative Retinitis, is a rare condition that occurs in children and young adults, usually males. It is a progressive condition of abnormal development of the retinal capillaries that usually occurs in the first 10 years of life. It is a gradual process that affects central vision, usually just in 1 eye. The retinal capillaries nourish the retina, which is where light is converted into electrical signals. These signals pass along the optic nerve and to the brain where they are converted into sight. There are no known causes for Coats' Disease at this time.

*Symptoms*

The main symptom of Coats' Disease is loss of central or peripheral vision. Other symptoms include sensitivity to light, cloudy vision, and a white patch on the pupil. This is a picture of a young boy with Coats' Disease. Notice the yellowish color of his right pupil. This is caused by a build up of cholesterol in the retinal capillaries leaking into his eye.

http://www.daisyseyecancerfund.org/Photos/Symptoms/coats1.gif

*Treatment*

If it is caught early enough, vision to the affected eye may be saved. Many times the children are not able to communicate their problems or may not notice them soon enough. Their are 5 different stages that Coats' Disease is broken into.

~Stage 1: There is a high probably that vision can be saved if caught in this stage, although as mentioned earlier, the child typically will not be able to understand what is going on at the time. Although catching Coats' Disease in this stage is unlikely, it can be treated with Laser Therapy if it is caught.

~Stage 2: There is a good chance that vision can be restored in this stage, depending on if the fovea has been affected or not. The treatment during this stage is Laser Therapy or Cryotherapy. Cryotherapy uses extreme cold to freeze and destroy dead tissue.

~Stage 3: In this stage the retina has detached and Laser Therapy or Cryotherapy can still be used. Cryotherapy may be more effective here if the detachment is shallow. If the detachment is more advanced surgery may be required.

~Stage 4: There is not really any chance of vision recovery in this stage, but laser therapy would be the only attempt to stop the leakage. Many times if the pain is severe enough, removal of the eye may be necessary.

~Stage 5: This stage results in total blindness that is irreversible. 

This is an Axial CT slice showing total retinal detachment in the left eye.

http://download.imaging.consult.com/ic/images/S1933033207752692/gr1-midi.jpg