A New Staging System for Eales’ Disease Based on the Clinicopathological Correlation

Purpose: To investigate the clinical features and propose a new staging system based on the clinicopathological correlation and formulate new guidelines for management of Eales’ disease in healthy young males. Materials and Methods: From 2004 to 2010, patients clinically diagnosed with Eales’ disease were enrolled in this study using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. We examined the patients’ anterior and posterior segments thoroughly. We performed the necessary ocular and systemic investigations. We divided the investigations into three stages: inflammatory, ischemic and complications, and the patients were treated accordingly. We treated the patients using photocoagulation or pars plana vitrectomy. The patients were monitored according to standard schedules and formats. All information was documented using a pre-tested online format and statistical analyses were performed using SPSS ver. 17. A p-value<0.05 was considered to indicate significance. Results: The cohort comprised 74 cases with a mean age of 30±8.73 years. The visual acuity of the presenting cohort was <3/60 in 64.9% of eyes. The final visual outcome was >6/12 in 40 eyes (54.1%), 6/60 to 6/18 in 14 eyes (18.9%) and <1/60 in the remaining 9 eyes at a mean follow-up of 592 days. The visual parameters differed significantly preand post-treatment. We evaluated the visual outcome following surgical management. Conclusion: The new classification system based on clinicopathological correlation is both user friendly and convenient.