• Users Online: 54487
  • Home
  • Print this page
  • Email this page

   Table of Contents      
CASE REPORT
Year : 2019  |  Volume : 67  |  Issue : 2  |  Page : 297-300

Optical coherence tomography angiography features of retinitis post-rickettsial fever


Department of Vitreoretina and Ocular Oncology, Sankara Eye Hospital, Kundalahalli Gate, Varthur Main Road, Marathahalli, Bangalore, Karnataka, India

Date of Submission24-Jun-2018
Date of Acceptance05-Oct-2018
Date of Web Publication23-Jan-2019

Correspondence Address:
Dr. Mahesh Shanmugam
Department of Vitreoretina and Ocular Oncology, Sankara Eye Hospital, Kundalahalli Gate, Varthur Main Road, Marathahalli, Bangalore - 560 037, Karnataka
India
Login to access the Email id

Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None


DOI: 10.4103/ijo.IJO_799_18

Rights and Permissions
  Abstract 


The intraocular manifestations of rickettisial retinitis include retinal vasculitis, maculopathy, optic neuritis, and neurosensory detachment. Extensive leakage of dye on the fundus fluorescein angiography may obscure visualization in eyes with retinitis. We report the vascular changes in eyes with rickettsial retinitis and its response to treatment using optical coherence tomography angiography. The microvascular abnormalities we noted were, capillary drop out areas corresponding to retinitis patches, vascular loops, and pruning of vessels. The choriocapillary slabs showed signal void areas. Post-treatment there was vascular remodeling with decrease in non-perfused area, appearance of new vascular lateral branching, and appearance of collaterals.

Keywords: Angiography, fever, microvasculature, Optical coherence tomography angiography, retinitis, rickettsia


How to cite this article:
Shanmugam M, Konana VK, Ramanjulu R, Divyansh Mishra K C, Sagar P, Kumar D. Optical coherence tomography angiography features of retinitis post-rickettsial fever. Indian J Ophthalmol 2019;67:297-300

How to cite this URL:
Shanmugam M, Konana VK, Ramanjulu R, Divyansh Mishra K C, Sagar P, Kumar D. Optical coherence tomography angiography features of retinitis post-rickettsial fever. Indian J Ophthalmol [serial online] 2019 [cited 2024 Mar 29];67:297-300. Available from: https://journals.lww.com/ijo/pages/default.aspx/text.asp?2019/67/2/297/250683



The intraocular manifestations of rickettisial retinitis include retinal vasculitis, maculopathy, optic neuritis, and neurosensory detachment.[1–4] The vascular architecture in eyes with post-fever retinitis has been studied using the fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA).[1],[2] Extensive leakage of dye on FFA may obscure visualization of microvasculature in eyes with retinitis. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is a dyeless, non-invasive tool to assess the microvasculature of the eye.[5] We report vascular changes in eyes with rickettsial retinitis and its response to treatment using OCTA.


  Case Report Top


A 17-year-old male presented with diminished vision in both eyes since 10 days. He had an episode of fever 2 weeks before the onset of symptoms. On examination, his best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 6/36 in right eye and 1/60 in left eye. Anterior segment examination in both eyes was unremarkable. Fundus examination in the right eye revealed soft exudates and hemorrhage suggestive of retinitis [Figure 1]a. Right eye optical coherence tomography (OCT) showed vitreous cells and neurosensory detachment (NSD) at fovea [Figure 1]b. Right eye OCTA showed distortion of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ) with capillary non-perfusion (CNP) areas in superficial capillary plexus (SCP) and deep capillary plexus (DCP) [Figure 1]c and [Figure 1]d. Choriocapillary layer in the right eye showed signal void areas corresponding to soft exudates [Figure 1]e. Left eye fundus examination revealed retinal whitening and retinal hemorrhages [Figure 2]a. Left eye OCT showed vitreous cells and NSD at fovea [Figure 2]b. In the left eye, SCP and DCP showed multiple CNP areas, pruning of vessels temporal to the disc, and signal void areas [Figure 2]c and [Figure 2]d. Choriocapillary slab in the left eye showed absence of signals at areas corresponding to soft exudates [Figure 2]e. Patient was investigated for chikungunya, dengue, typhoid, and rickettsia and was found positive for OX-2 antigen and negative for OX-K and OX-19. He was started on oral doxycycline and oral prednisolone. At 1 month he had BCVA of 6/18 and 3/60 in the right and left eye, respectively. At 6 months follow-up BCVA was 6/9 in the right eye and 6/12 in the left eye. Complete resolution of soft exudates and hemorrhages was noted in both eyes [Figure 3] and [Figure 4]. Both eyes OCT showed absence of vitreous cells and NSD [Figure 3]g and [Figure 4]g. In the right eye, SCP and DCP showed enlarged FAZ, reduction in the CNP area, and reorganization of the capillary network [Figure 3]h and [Figure 3]i. In the left eye, SCP showed reorganization of capillary network at macula, with decrease in CNP area and disappearance of abnormal vessels temporal to the disc [Figure 4]h. Left eye DCP showed decrease in CNP area with minimal distortion of FAZ [Figure 4]i. Choroicapillaries in both eyes were normal [Figure 3]j and [Figure 4]j.
Figure 1: (a) Right eye showing soft exudate at macula with whitening of retina and hemorrhages. (b) Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) showing vitreous cells, thickening of the nerve fiber layer with neurosensory detachment at fovea. (c) Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) 6 × 6 mm slab of superficial capillary plexus showing distortion of the foveal avascular zone with capillary drop out areas superior to the fovea (white-dotted line). Pruning of the vessel was noted at the macula. (d) Deep capillary plexus showing projection artifacts with capillary drop out areas at macula. (e) Choriocapillary slab in the right eye showed projection artifacts with signal void areas

Click here to view
Figure 2: (a) Left eye showing multiple soft exudates and retinal hemorrhage. (b) Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) showing vitreous cells, thickening of the nerve fiber layer with neurosensory detachment at fovea. (c) Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) at superficial capillary plexus showed multiple capillary drop out areas, pruning of vessels temporal to the disc (white arrows), capillary drop out corresponding to soft exudates (white-dotted lines). (d) OCTA at deep capillary plexus showing projection artifacts and capillary drop out corresponding to soft exudates (white-dotted lines). (e) OCTA choriocapillary slab in the left eye showing signal void areas

Click here to view
Figure 3: (a) Right eye color photograph at presentation. (b) Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the right eye at presentation. (c-e) Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) at superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and choriocapillary at presentation. (f) At 6 months showing complete resolution of soft exudates and hemorrhages. (g) OCT showed absence of neurosensory detachment. (h) OCTA 9 × 9 mm at 6 months, SCP demonstrating enlarged FAZ (white line) and reorganization of the capillary network. (i) OCTA at DCP showed enlarged FAZ with decrease in CNP area. (j) Choriocapillary slab showed normal choroidal vasculature

Click here to view
Figure 4: (a) Left eye at presentation. (b) Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SS-OCT) at presentation. (c–e) Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) at superficial capillary plexus (SCP), deep capillary plexus (DCP), and choriocapillary at presentation. (f) At 6 months showing resolution of soft exudates and hemorrhages. (g) Optical coherence tomography (OCT) showing absence of neurosensory detachment. (h) At 6 months OCTA 9 × 9 mm at level of SCP showing vascularization of capillary drop out areas and disappearance of abnormal vessels (white-dotted line). (i) OCTA at DCP showing projection artifacts with decrease in CNP area with minimal distortion of FAZ. (j) Choriocapillary slab showed normal choroidal vasculature

Click here to view



  Discussion Top


The vascular changes in post-fever retinitis has been studied using FFA.[1],[2] Kawali et al. reported FFA features in rickettsial retinitis. They noted that in early phase there was hypofluorescence corresponding to the retinitis patch and in late phase there was hyperfluorescence at the margin, staining of the vessel, and leakage.[2] Khairallah et al. studied FFA features of 60 eyes with rickettsial retinitis. They reported that vascular leakage (45%), staining of the disc (50%), hypofluorescent choroidal dots (16.7%), and delayed filling of branch retinal vein (1.7%).[1]

Advantages of OCTA like, being dyeless and the ability to visualize retinal and choroidal vasculature layer-wise helps us understand microvascular changes in the area of retinitis which was not possible with FFA due to vascular leakage.[5]

Microvascular abnormalities we noted were, CNP areas corresponding to retinitis patches and pruning of vessels. Deep capillary plexus showed profound capillary non-perfusion when compared to the superficial plexus. The choriocapillary slabs showed signal void areas which can be attributed to shadowing caused due to overlying retinitis patch.

Changes in OCTA in the SCP and DCP were noted in dengue and chikungunya retinitis.[6],[7],[8] Agarwal et al. in their report on OCTA features of chikungunya retinitis reported that there were flow void areas in SCP, DCP, and choriocapillary slabs.[6] Aggarwal et al. in their report on OCTA features of acute macular neuroretinopathy post-dengue fever noted flow deficit areas in SCP and DCP. They did not report any changes at the level of choriocapillary.[7] Bajgai et al. noted broken foveal avascular zone in only SCP of OCTA in a case of dengue maculopathy and these changes persisted at follow-up visits.[8]

So far in the literature there is only one report of OCTA features of rickettsial retinitis by Kahloun et al.[9] They described hypointense dark areas in SCP and DCP, more so in deeper plexus. Similar features were noted in our case at presentation. Post-treatment with prednisolone and doxycycline, Kahloun et al. observed that the hypointense area persisted.[9]

In our case, post-treatment there was vascular remodeling with decrease in non-perfused area and appearance of new vascular lateral branching. At presentation the left eye appeared to have worse prognosis, but the final visual outcome at 6 months was almost close to the right eye. This can be attributed to the vascular remodeling at the macula in the left eye after treatment. Hence the extent of vascular remodeling determines the visual prognosis after treatment and OCTA is a useful tool in these cases to understand the response to treatment.

Limitation of OCTA is that its interpretation can be challenging in presence of projection and motion artifacts.


  Conclusion Top


OCTA can be vital non-invasive tool in understanding the vascular changes in eyes with rickettsial retinitis and help us prognosticate.

Declaration of patient consent

The authors certify that they have obtained all appropriate patient consent forms. In the form the patient(s) has/have given his/her/their consent for his/her/their images and other clinical information to be reported in the journal. The patients understand that their names and initials will not be published and due efforts will be made to conceal their identity, but anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Financial support and sponsorship

Nil.

Conflicts of interest

There are no conflicts of interest.



 
  References Top

1.
Khairallah M, Ladjimi A, Chakroun M, Messaoud R, Yahia SB, Zaouali S, et al. Posterior segment manifestations of Rickettsia conorii infection. Ophthalmology 2004;111:529-34.  Back to cited text no. 1
    
2.
Kawali A, Mahendradas P, Srinivasan P, Yadav NK, Avadhani K, Gupta K, et al. Rickettsial retinitis—an Indian perspective. J Ophthalmic Inflamm Infect 2015;5:37.  Back to cited text no. 2
    
3.
Kahloun R, Gargouri S, Abroug N, Sellami D, Ben Yahia S, Feki J, et al. Visual loss associated with Rickettsial disease. Ocul Immunol Inflamm 2014;22:373-8.  Back to cited text no. 3
    
4.
Khairallah M, Ben Yahia S, Toumi A, Jelliti B, Loussaief C, Romdhane FB, et al. Ocular manifestations associated with murine typhus. Br J Ophthalmol 2009;93:938-42.  Back to cited text no. 4
    
5.
Chalam KV, Sambhav K. Optical coherence tomography angiography in retinal diseases. J Ophthalmic Vis Res 2016;11:84-92.  Back to cited text no. 5
[PUBMED]  [Full text]  
6.
Agarwal A, Choudhary T, Gupta V. Optical coherence tomography angiography features of bilateral retinopathy associated with Chikungunya fever. Indian J Ophthalmol 2018;66:142-5.  Back to cited text no. 6
[PUBMED]  [Full text]  
7.
Aggarwal K, Agarwal A, Katoch D, Sharma M, Gupta V. Optical coherence tomography angiography features of acute macular neuroretinopathy in dengue fever. Indian J Ophthalmol 2017;65:1235-8.  Back to cited text no. 7
[PUBMED]  [Full text]  
8.
Bajgai P, Singh R, Kapil A. Progression of dengue maculopathy on OCT-angiography and fundus photography. Ophthalmology 2017;124:1816.  Back to cited text no. 8
    
9.
Kahloun R, Jelliti B, Ksiaa I, Ben Amor H, Zaouali S, Lupidi M, et al. Swept- source optical coherence tomography angiography in Rickettsial retinitis. Retin Cases Brief Rep 2017. doi: 10.1097/ICB.0000000000000603.  Back to cited text no. 9
    


    Figures

  [Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3], [Figure 4]


This article has been cited by
1 Arteriolar occlusion in post-fever retinitis; Case report with review of literature
Vidya S Mooss, Vinaya K Konana, Kalpana B Murthy
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology - Case Reports. 2024; 4(1): 205
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
2 Case Report: Optic neuritis as the initial presentation of Orientia tsutsugamushi infection detected by metagenomic next-generation sequencing
Chuan-bin Sun, Zhiqiong Ma, Zhe Liu
Frontiers in Immunology. 2023; 14
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
3 A Review of Rickettsial Diseases Other Than Scrub Typhus in India
Sivanantham Krishnamoorthi, Shriya Goel, Jasleen Kaur, Kamlesh Bisht, Manisha Biswal
Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease. 2023; 8(5): 280
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
4 Swept-source optical coherence tomography angiography in Mediterranean spotted fever retinitis with retinal vasculitis
S. Gargouri, I. Kaibi, K. Maaloul, M. Sehli, I. Abid, A. Trigui
Journal Français d'Ophtalmologie. 2023;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
5 Stepwise approach for fundus imaging in the diagnosis and management of posterior uveitis
Aniruddha Agarwal, Francesco Pichi, Alessandro Invernizzi, Dilraj S. Grewal, Rohan Bir Singh, Awaneesh Upadhyay
Survey of Ophthalmology. 2023;
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
6 Treatment Outcomes of Presumed Rickettsial Retinitis: Evidence from OCTA Based Quantitative Analysis
Abhilasha Baharani, Raja Rami Reddy P.
Ocular Immunology and Inflammation. 2023; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
7 Optical Coherence Tomography and Optical Coherence Tomography Angiography in Neglected Diseases
Padmamalini Mahendradas, Isha Acharya, Vipin Rana, Reema Bansal, Hager Ben Amor, Moncef Khairallah
Ocular Immunology and Inflammation. 2023; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
8 Visual Fields in Epidemic Retinitis
Ankush Kawali, Sujani Shroff, Srinivasan Sanjay, Sai Bhakti Mishra, Ashwin Mohan, Padmamalini Mahendradas, Rohit Shetty
Ocular Immunology and Inflammation. 2022; : 1
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
9 Comments on: Optical coherence tomography in epidemic retinitis
Srinivasan Sanjay, Padmamalini Mahendradas, Ankush Kawali, SantoshGopi Krishna Gadde
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2021; 69(1): 181
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
10 Commentary: Posterior segment manifestations of rickettsial disease
Ramanuj Samanta, Gitanjli Sood, Ajai Agrawal
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2021; 69(5): 1171
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
11 Recent Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Uveitis Prevalent in Asia-Pacific Region
Anamika Patel, Anup Kelgaonkar, Hrishikesh Kaza, Mudit Tyagi, Somasheila Murthy, Avinash Pathengay, Soumyava Basu
Asia-Pacific Journal of Ophthalmology. 2021; 10(1): 99
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
12 Macular infarction in presumed rickettsial retinitis with late vascular remodelling
David Aggarwal, Brijesh Takkar, Soumyava Basu
BMJ Case Reports. 2021; 14(8): e243188
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
13 Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) of retinal vasculature in patients with post fever retinitis: a qualitative and quantitative analysis
Srinivasan Sanjay, Santosh Gopi Krishna Gadde, Sameeksha Agrawal, Padmamalini Mahendradas, Nivedhitha Govindaswamy, Ankush Kawali, Chaitra Jayadev, Sajjan Sangai, Abhijit Sinha Roy, Rohit Shetty
Scientific Reports. 2021; 11(1)
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
14 Retinitis por Rickettsia conorii, una infección emergente en el sureste de la península ibérica
A. Pérez-Rueda
Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología. 2020; 95(10): 507
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
15 Rickettsia conorii retinitis: an emerging infection in the southeast of the Iberian Peninsula
A. Pérez-Rueda
Archivos de la Sociedad Española de Oftalmología (English Edition). 2020; 95(10): 507
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
16 Three-years follow-up swept source optical coherence tomography angiography findings in post-fever retinitis
MDheepak Sundar, Lubhavni Dewan, Rohan Chawla, Atul Kumar, Nasiq Hasan
Indian Journal of Ophthalmology. 2020; 68(9): 2024
[Pubmed] | [DOI]
17 Post Fever Uveoretinal Manifestations in an Immunocompetent Individual
Srinivasan Sanjay, Sameeksha Agrawal, Padmamalini Mahendradas, Ankush Kawali, Aditi Gupta, Rohit Shetty
EMJ Allergy & Immunology. 2020; : 91
[Pubmed] | [DOI]



 

Top
 
 
  Search
 
    Similar in PUBMED
   Search Pubmed for
   Search in Google Scholar for
 Related articles
    Access Statistics
    Email Alert *
    Add to My List *
* Registration required (free)  

 
  In this article
Abstract
Case Report
Discussion
Conclusion
References
Article Figures

 Article Access Statistics
    Viewed2129    
    Printed43    
    Emailed0    
    PDF Downloaded232    
    Comments [Add]    
    Cited by others 17    

Recommend this journal