Ocular Inflammation: Progress and Pitfalls in Diagnosis, Imaging and Management

Dear Colleagues,

The appraisal of ocular inflammation has become more precise thanks to the development of diagnostic tools, namely imaging methods. These investigational imaging methods allow for investigating both the retinal and choroidal compartments using established invasive angiographic methods, including fluorescein (FA) and indocyanine green angiography (ICGA), complemented by more recent non-invasive methods, such as optical coherence tomography (OCT), enhanced depth imaging OCT (EDI-OCT), OCT angiography (OCT-A), and fundus autofluorescence (FAF).

These methods improve diagnostic parameters of ocular inflammatory diseases and uveitis when they are employed in an appropriate way. On the other hand, misinterpretation or lack of understanding of these methods, or even exclusion of these methods when designing diagnostic criteria, can present challenges.

The combination of these methods, often termed multimodal imaging, substantially contributes to a better understanding of disease mechanisms; conversely, result of misinterpretation or overinterpretation of investigative procedures can cause pitfalls such as inappropriate disease classifications and inaccurate definitions.

As far as management is concerned, it has also benefited from the recent developments in the appraisal of ocular inflammatory diseases, which have enabled fine-tuning of the therapeutic approach either by imaging follow-up or by diagnostic tests on intraocular fluids, among others.

The aim of this Special Issue is to deliver a global and comprehensive approach to both established and more novel investigational modalities, and to analyse their practicality in determining disease definitions, diagnostic parameters and management in ocular inflammatory diseases and uveitis. If necessary, inadequacies in their appraisal will also be addressed.

 The scope of the Special Issue includes the following topics, among others:

• How pathophysiology and disease mechanisms can be reinterpreted and redefined thanks to progress in investigational methods.
• Clinically relevant progress in inflammatory ocular diseases in relation to multimodal imaging
• How inadequacies in disease definitions in uveitis can be uncovered and corrected following adequate interpretation of novel investigational modalities
• Advantages and limitations of certain imaging modalities in uveitis and choroiditis.

Dr. Carl P. Herbort, Jr.
Dr. Ioannis Papasavvas
Guest Editors

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• uveitis
• intraocular inflammation
• fluorescein angiography (FA)
• indocyanine green angiography (ICGA)
• optical coherence tomography (OCT)
• enhanced depth imaging OCT (EDI-OCT)
• optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A)
• fundus autofluorescence (FAF)
• uveitis masquerades
• intraocular interleukin assays
• Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada disease (VKH)
• multiple evanescent white dot syndrome (MEWDS)
• consensus definitions