Ocular ischemic syndrome presenting as retinal vasculitis in a patient with moyamoya syndrome

To report a case of ocular ischemic syndrome presenting as retinal vasculitis in a patient with Moyamoya syndrome.

A retrospective chart review was conducted to record clinical data including fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography, and serologic testing. A review of the literature from 1969 to 2014 of ocular involvement in Moyamoya syndrome was performed.

A 51-year-old woman with long history of bilateral retinal vasculitis and refractory cystoid macular edema was eventually diagnosed with Moyamoya syndrome after sustaining a perioperative cerebrovascular accident. Moyamoya syndrome has been associated in the literature with ocular ischemic syndrome, presenting with narrowed retinal arteries, dilated veins, and midperipheral retinal hemorrhages, but retinal vasculitis with cystoid macular edema has not been reported.

Moyamoya-related ocular ischemic syndrome can present as retinal vascular leakage and macular edema. Ophthalmologists should be cognizant that signs of the disease may be first observed in the eye before manifestations in the cerebrovascular system.