Pseudovasculitis associated with vitreoretinal traction

The purpose of this study was to report a case of vitreoretinal traction masqueraded as retinal vasculitis.

An 81-year-old woman with exudative age-related macular degeneration was treated with intravitreal injections of ranibizumab. During routine follow-up, angiographic evidence of focal, segmental, retinal vasculitis, involving both arteries and veins, was noticed in the fellow eye. Clinical examination revealed no sign of ocular inflammation in either eye.

Spectralis optical coherence tomography revealed partial posterior vitreous detachment with multiple areas of persisting vitreoretinal adhesion. Focal vasculitis on fluorescein angiography showed absolute correspondence with sites of vitreoretinal traction on optical coherence tomography. Patient was managed by observation and 6 months later, despite persisting fluorescein leak, she was still asymptomatic with no evidence of anterior chamber or vitreous activity.

This is an exceptional case of pseudovasculitis associated with mechanical traction, representing a variant of vitreomacular traction syndrome. Clinicians should be aware of this unusual manifestation, which may mimic true vasculitis associated with uveitis.