Subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). A case report

A report is given of the fundus changes in a 17-year-old boy suffering from SSPE, which clinically first manifested itself by visual disturbances. At first the right eye showed extensive yellowish-white oedema at the posterior pole, surrounded by smaller round, yellow, partly confluent lesions, passing into a scarring stage in about ten days. Fluorescein angiography of the right eye was performed, both in the acute stage, which suggested a Harada syndrome, and in the scarring stage, which resembled a disseminated chorioretinitis. Three weeks later, during the development of the general neurological symptoms, the left eye developed the same fundus picture and course as the right eye. The condition of the patient rapidly deteriorated, leading to death five weeks after the onset of his visual complaints.