Bilateral macular retinitis as the presenting feature of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis

Two patients presented with retinitis as the initial clinical manifestation of subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE), a delayed neurologic complication of measles. In one patient, the ocular involvement preceded the neurologic symptoms by 4 weeks and in the other patient by 4 years. The diagnosis of SSPE was suspected when neuropsychiatric manifestations appeared and was confirmed by the typical panencephalitic electroencephalography changes, neuroimaging features of panencephalitis, and high titers of measles antibodies in serum and cerebrospinal fluid. Although SSPE is an untreatable illness, recognition of this unusual presentation is valuable to allow earlier diagnosis and institution of palliative measures.