Systemic associations of pigmentary retinopathy.

Pigmentary retinopathy is the final common pathway for many retinal and chorioretinal disorders and one manifestation of many metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases. Pigmentary retinopathy corresponds to hyperplasia and migration of the retinal pigment epithelium in to the neurosensory retina, usually along blood vessels. This process is often more prominent in the periphery than in the posterior pole of the retina. Pigmentary retinopathy is a nonspecific sign rather than a diagnosis. For this reason, the evaluation of patients with pigmentary retinopathy is a special challenge. The same fundus picture may represent a primary ocular process, a harbinger of neurological degeneration, a remote effect of cancer, or just one feature in a constellation of signs comprising a genetic syndrome.