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Published on: May 5, 2022
SEVERE BILATERAL RETINAL VASCULAR OCCLUSION AS FIRST PRESENTATION OF SYSTEMIC LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS AND
Philip Storey1, Anna Ter-Zakarian, Narsing Rao
1USC Roski Eye Institute, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California.
Purpose:
To describe a patient with undiagnosed systemic lupus erythematosus and secondary antiphospholipid syndrome presenting with bilateral severe retinal vaso-occlusion on first presentation.
Methods:
Retrospective case report. A 42-year-old Hispanic female with no medical history presented with 2 weeks of bilateral decreased vision.
Results:
At initial presentation, the patient's best-corrected visual acuity was 2 ft/200 and 20/400 in the right and left eyes, respectively. Dilated fundus examination revealed diffuse, confluent cotton-wool spots, and severe vascular occlusions in both eyes. Fluorescein angiography confirmed that the patient had both arterial and venous vascular occlusions and retinal vasculitis. A thorough work-up revealed that the patient had systemic lupus erythematosus and APS with positive antibodies to anticardiolipin, beta-2-glycoprotein, and lupus anticoagulant. The patient was treated with steroids, immunosuppression agents, anticoagulation, and extensive panretinal photocoagulation. One month later, best-corrected visual acuity had improved to 20/200 and 20/40, the vasculitis had substantially improved, and no neovascularization was present.
Conclusion:
Severe retinal vaso-occlusion may be the first presenting signs for patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and APS.
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