[Acute necrotizing retinitis with amotio retinae. Surgical and medicamentous antiviral therapy]

This report pertains to the case of a 25-year-old patient suffering from acute necrotizing retinitis (ANR syndrome). Initially, one eye revealed clinical signs of diffuse chorioretinitis accompanied by perivasculitis and heavy keratic precipitates, papillitis, and vitreous infiltrates. After initial improvement under antiphlogistic therapy, however, necrotizing retinitis developed, associated with peripapillar hemorrhages, multiple peripheral retinal holes and eventually complete retinal detachment. The subsequently performed retinal detachment surgery, completed with vitrectomy, cerclage and silicone oil tamponade, was successful. At the same time, the patient was put on systemic therapy based on acyclovir. In the literature, similar developments are usually related to HSV and HZV infections. Although in our case a virological diagnostic test did not reveal the presence of any virus, the characteristic symptoms of the ANR syndrome completely disappeared under the above-mentioned therapy. Visual acuity, previously consisting only in light perception, improved to 0.4.