An Overview of Multiple Evanescent White Dot Syndrome

Multiple evanescent white dot syndrome, or MEWDs, was first described by Jampol and colleagues in 1984. It is categorised as a white dot syndrome (WDS), a group of inflammatory chorioretinopathies which clinically present as numerous, discrete white lesions affecting multiple layers of the retina including the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), choroid and choriocapillaris. Other white dot syndromes include acute retinal pigment epitheliopathy (ARPE), acute posterior multifocal placoid pigment epitheliopathy (APMPPE), multifocal choroiditis and panuveitis (MCP) acute zonal occult outer retinopathy (AZOOR), punctate inner choroidopathy (PIC), serpiginous choroidopathy and birdshot chorioretinopathy. MEWDs is a unilateral condition which typically presents in women aged 20-50 years with a viral prodrome and has a benign and self-limiting course. The white dot syndromes are a rare entity with one multi-centre study calculating the incidence of WDS as 0.45 cases per 100,000, whilst other studies have reported the incidence of MEWDs as 0.22 per 100,000 population annually. We will provide an overview of this rare condition characterising its clinical presentation, clinical course and findings on ophthalmic imaging.