Elsevier

Ophthalmology

Volume 102, Issue 7, July 1995, Pages 1089-1097
Ophthalmology

Idiopathic Retinal Vasculitis, Aneurysms, and Neuro-retinitis

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0161-6420(95)30907-4Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open archive

Purpose: The authors describe the clinical feature of ten patients with a new syndrome characterized by the presence of retinal vasculitis, multiple macroaneurysms, neuro-retinitis, and peripheral capillary nonperfusion.

Methods: The authors evaluated ten patients identified to have clinical features compatible with the syndrome of idiopathic retinal vasculitis, aneurysms and neuroretinitis (IRVAN). Clinical examination findings, sequential fundus photographs (when available), fluorescein angiograms, systemic investigations, response to therapy, and visual outcomes were reviewed.

Results: Seven eyes of four patients sustained a marked decrease in visual acuity of 20/200 or worse. Visual loss was due to a combination of an exudative maculopathy and sequelae of retinal ischemia. Capillary nonperfusion was seen in all ten patients and was severe enough to warrant panretinal laser photocoagulation in six patients. Systemic investigations were uniformly noncontributory. Oral prednisone appears to have little beneficial effects on patients with this disorder.

Conclusions: Patients with IRVAN have characteristic retinal features that readily identify this syndrome. An increased awareness of this rare syndrome may help to identify sight-threatening complications at an earlier stage. The authors caution against extensive medical investigations. Ophthalmology 1995;102:1089-1097

Cited by (0)

Presented at the ARVO Annual Meeting, Ft. Lauderdale, 1995. Dr. Chang was an E. A. Baker Foundation Fellow, 1993–1994.

*

Members of the Retinal Vasculitis Study Group are listed in the Appendix at the end of this article.