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Questions and Answers
What is the earliest recognizable change in the retina associated with background retinopathy?
What is the earliest recognizable change in the retina associated with background retinopathy?
- Hard exudates
- Microaneurysms (correct)
- Cytoid bodies
- Cotton wool spots
What occurs when the walls of small blood vessels in the retina are breached?
What occurs when the walls of small blood vessels in the retina are breached?
- Formation of cotton wool spots
- Superficial haemorrhages (correct)
- Accumulation of protein deposits
- Generation of microaneurysms
What causes the appearance of cotton wool spots in the retina?
What causes the appearance of cotton wool spots in the retina?
- Infarcts due to blood vessel occlusion (correct)
- Accumulation of protein and lipid deposits
- Clearing of previous exudates by macrophages
- Leaking fluid from damaged vessels
Which of the following best describes the role of macrophages in retinal changes?
Which of the following best describes the role of macrophages in retinal changes?
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What are hard exudates in the retina primarily composed of?
What are hard exudates in the retina primarily composed of?
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What are cytoid bodies in the retina a result of?
What are cytoid bodies in the retina a result of?
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Study Notes
Early Changes in Retina
- Non-proliferative or background retinopathy represents the earliest changes in the retina without vision loss.
- Microaneurysms are small red dots caused by damage to small vessel walls; they are early indicators of vascular changes.
- Breaching of vessel walls leads to superficial (blot) hemorrhages in the ganglion cell and outer plexiform layers of the retina.
- Damaged blood vessels result in fluid leakage into the retina, which is eventually cleared into the retinal veins.
- Protein and lipid deposits remain after fluid clearance, appearing as hard exudates; these are cleared later by macrophages.
- Cotton wool spots signify micro-infarcts in the retina due to occluded vessels, leading to swelling of retinal nerve fibers.
- Disruption of normal axoplasmic transport results in accumulation of axoplasmic debris at cotton wool spots, which is removed by macrophages.
- Cytoid bodies may appear as white dots at the site of prior cotton wool spots, indicating previous damage or change.
- Sequential retinal photographs show that these lesions can heal over time, with changes sometimes visible on one examination and not the next.
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