Congenital corneal blood staining secondary to hemorrhagic persistent fetal vasculature

Sarah A Avila1, Grace Huang1, Joel Pakett1

  • 1Department of Ophthalmology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York.

An African American girl born at 37 weeks via spontaneous vaginal delivery to a 33-year-old woman was noted on delivery to have a unilateral absent red reflex in the right eye, which was enlarged. Intraocular pressure was elevated, and the cornea had a straw-colored opacity. B-scan ultrasonography of the right eye showed diffuse hyperechoic vitreous opacities and a retrolental mass, with a hyperechoic band stretching from the optic disk to the posterior lens. Neuroimaging showed a unilateral enlarged globe, intraocular hemorrhage, and persistent fetal vasculature, with no other intracranial pathology. An anterior chamber washout revealed liquified blood; the presence of corneal blood staining was confirmed. A spontaneous intraocular hemorrhage associated with persistent fetal vasculature was suspected, leading to secondary glaucoma and corneal blood staining.

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