[Periphlebitis retinae ("Rucker")--a symptom of disseminated encephalomyelitis]

Within a group of neuro-ophthalmic patients (147 patients with either florid or cured optic neuritis (ON), five (3.4%) were found to be suffering from retinal periphlebitis "Rucker". Of these five patients, three were also suffering from Encephalomyelitis disseminata (E.d.). One patient had ON without E.d.; in another there were sufficient grounds for a tentative diagnosis of ON during the follow-up period. The relatively low percentage of patients with retinal periphlebitis associated with a basic demyelinating condition can be attributed primarily to the fact that the group of patients examined consisted of neuro-ophthalmic patients in most of whom the basic disease manifested itself for the first time. The multi-focal processes involved in demyelinating diseases become apparent through inflammatory focuses with varying degrees of activity, often in the same eye.