Types of eye freckles and spots
Article Tags: Choroid nevus, CHRPE, eye freckles, eye spots
Some people especially middle-age and elderly women are bothered by ugly eye freckles and spots, which usually last for years. But very few folks know details of essence, reason, treatment and so forth. From a medical perspective, a freckle in the eye is mainly associated with two ocular conditions: congenital hypertrophy of retinal pigment epithelium (CHRPE) and choroid nevus. These two conditions are usually not serious but need proper monitoring.
Typical symptom of CHRPE
CHRPE usually causes a pigmented and well demarcated dark spot inside the back of the eye. In other words, there is a round, well-circumscribed pigmented lesion in the eye. And typically there will be some halos within the lesion. Appearing in a size of the top of a pencil, a spot usually results from the pigment accumulation in the cells of retinal epithelium. This condition always changes over time, which is similar to a freckle on one’s skin. CHRPE can lead to severe conditions if it has pasted the treatable stages. A halo nevus may occur and lead to elevated nodules. In rare cases, tumors are also possible.
Bear tracks caused by CHRPE
In addition, some CHRPE eyes may develop bear tracks, which means that there are multiple dark spots in the back eye like bear footprints. This is another form of CHRPE. This form of the condition requires further testing for colon and rectal cancer, because bear tracks may be a valuable sign of colon cancer. In most cases, bear tracks require proper treatment from a specialist. In most cases, there are more than 3 spots in each eye. Compared with the above symptom, bear tracks are distributed and harder to deal with.
Choroid nevus caused eye spot
Like a nevus, a choroid nevus occurs in the choroid, which supplies circulation to the retinal tissue. Choroid nevus caused spots are quite common that about 30% of the population is affected. They always appear in round, gray and flat spots. These spots are not true melanomas so that they are exactly called benign choroid melanomas. A choroid nevus may lead to a melanoma at a very low rate. It is necessary to differentiate choroid nevus from CHRPE. Eye spots caused by choroid nevus have paler color and less distinct edge, while CHRPE-caused spots usually have darker color, well-defined edges and central halos.
Trauma may also cause eye spots
Dark spots can also be caused by trauma, which in turn may result from an eye injury or infection. Trauma-caused dark spots are irregular in shape. It is necessary to monitor the condition that causes eye spots.
Test of eye spots
Tests of new spots include ongoing observation, optical coherence tomography techniques of imaging the layers of the retina, digital imaging pictures and dye imaging of the retina. Most doctors use a dilated exam to detect dark spots inside the eye.