Indications and pathologic diagnoses of diagnostic chorioretinal biopsies in the province of Quebec, Canada.

Objective: To review the clinical usefulness of chorioretinal biopsies in diagnostically undefined cases of intraocular inflammation or chorioretinal lesions.

Design: Retrospective case series.

Participants: Seven patients who underwent chorioretinal biopsies.

Methods: This case series included all consecutive patients who underwent chorioretinal biopsies in 2 academic tertiary care centres in the province of Quebec between 2014 and 2020.

Results: A total of 7 patients were included in the study. Five patients with intraocular inflammation underwent chorioretinal biopsies to rule out an infectious or neoplastic etiology, whereas 2 patients underwent biopsies for suspicion of neoplastic chorioretinal masses. Final diagnoses included primary chorioretinal lymphoma (n = 2), toxoplasmosis (n = 1), benign choroidal mass (n = 1), nonnecrotizing granuloma (n = 1), and peripheral exudative hemorrhagic chorioretinopathy (n = 1). No specific diagnosis was defined in 1 case of panuveitis with scleritis. No postoperative complications were reported.

Conclusions: Chorioretinal biopsies clarified the diagnosis in 6 of 7 patients, including a definitive diagnosis of lymphoma in 2 patients. This is a high rate of diagnosis that also represents clinically meaningful results that influence management. Future directions include identifying patients in whom adjuvant chorioretinal biopsy would yield a high rate of diagnosis.