Retinal cotton wool spot

What it means

Fluffy white patch in the inner retina, representing localized areas of dense white swelling of the retinal nerve fiber layer.

On angiography and OCT-A,rRetinal cotton wool spots would colocalise with a capillary drop-out.

Rare diseases that can present with this1

The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.

Part of the broader category