Unilateral branch retinal artery occlusion in a patient with systemic lupus erythematosus: A case report

Ocular involvements in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) are not rare but extremely varied. Here we present a very meaningful case with unilateral branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) secondary to undetected SLE, for which immunotherapy showed significant effect, which led to complete resolution of macular edema.

A 31-year-old female patient, so far without any previous illnesses, presented with a sudden onset of painless diminution of vision in left eye for 5 days. Diagnosis: Signs of branch retinal artery occlusion and macular ischemic edema were observed on the left fundus, which was further confirmed by Fundus fluorescein angiography and OCT. BRAO was initially proposed. However, after ophthalmological treatment for BRAO, visual acuity and macular edema improvement was limited. Physical examination revealed erythema on the hands and feet, together with her experience of hair loss and joint pain. The patient was diagnosed with SLE.

The patient received systemic immunotherapy, which resulted in visual improvement to 20/20.

This is a rare monocular vaso-occlusive retinopathy in SLE with mainly diffuse nonperfusion and small arterial and arteriolar occlusion in the retina, as distinct from more common vasculitis. Even without intravitreal injection of anti-VEGF, systemic immunotherapy can be effective for the treatment of macular edema.