TUBERCULOUS CHORIORETINITIS: A CHALLENGING CASE OF AN OPHTHALMIC MIMIC

To report a challenging case of tuberculous chorioretinitis.

Case report of a 51-year-old woman from the Middle East, who was referred from an optometrist with a suspicious retinal lesion in her right eye.

Clinical examination showed multifocal, pale, elevated lesions temporal to the right macula with no vasculitis or hemorrhages. Infective and inflammatory workup showed unremarkable results. B-scan ultrasound confirmed an 8 mm × 3 mm × 10 mm right focal chorioretinal thickening. Computed tomography scanning showed calcified lung hilar nodes supporting a prior granulomatous process, along with an enhancing nodule in the right globe. Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain and obits showed retinal thickening of the temporal surface of the right globe with subtle enhancement without retrobulbar extension or evidence for cerebral vasculitis. Subretinal lesion biopsy showed mononuclear inflammatory cells with granulomatous inflammation, including multinucleated giant cells but no neoplastic features. Interferon-gamma release assay testing for tuberculosis showed negative result, but a high index of suspicion lead to tuberculin skin testing and subsequent treatment for tuberculous chorioretinitis.

Ocular tuberculosis presents in a variety of ways, making it a challenging diagnosis. Herein, we describe such case of tuberculous chorioretinitis.