Case Report: Choriocapillaris Flow Voids in Acute Syphilitic Posterior Placoid Chorioretinitis

Acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) is a rare clinical presentation of ocular syphilis. The worldwide incidence of syphilis has recently increased. Clinicians should be familiar with the distinct appearance and imaging findings of ASPPC and promptly initiate antibiotic treatment to limit functional vision loss and systemic complications of neurosyphilis.

This case demonstrates the utility of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) imaging to further understand the pathophysiology and visual prognosis of ASPPC.

A 75-year-old man presented with 7 days of decreased vision in his left eye. His visual acuity was 20/20 in the right eye and 20/200 in the left eye. Fundus examination revealed placoid lesions in the superior and inferotemporal aspects of the posterior pole in the right eye and a large placoid macular lesion in the left eye. Optical coherence tomography imaging revealed disruption and loss of the ellipsoid zone and external limiting membrane, nodular elevations on the retinal pigment epithelium, and choroidal hyperreflective punctate lesions in the left eye. Optical coherence tomography angiography displayed choriocapillaris perfusion flow voids greater in the left eye than in the right eye. Two months after penicillin treatment, the placoid lesions resolved in both eyes with an improvement in outer retinal structural abnormalities on optical coherence tomography imaging and visual acuity to 20/25 in the left eye. Eleven months after presentation, the OCT-A choriocapillaris flow voids had improved without complete restoration.

The flow voids seen on OCT-A imaging in this case of ASPPC suggest a possible inflammatory process with a primary location in the choriocapillaris.