Page 229 - Computational Retinal Image Analysis

226 CHAPTER 12 Diabetic retinopathy and maculopathy lesions

FIG. 2
Scattered dot and blot HMs.
diffuse retinal ischemia.
– Interretinal microvascular abnormalities usually appear as irregular loops of
vessels within the retina, which may straddle normal vessels [17]. Loops cause
deviation of vein curvature from its normal course. Such deviations can be
minor gentle curvatures as well as resemble omega-shaped (see Fig. 3).
– Neovascularization is a process of abnormally growing new vessels. These new
vessels stem from large veins or major arcade vessels. They appear initially as
fine tufts on the surface of the retina. These new vessels are fragile and bleed

FIG. 3
Intraretinal microvascular abnormalities (annotated).