Purtscher's Retinopathy: A Case Report

Abstract

A 22-year-old male patient who had multiple upper extremity fractures and head trauma secondary to motorcycle accident was referred to our clinic a week after trauma for bilateral visual loss. Patient underwent a detailed ophthalmological examination including fundus fluorescein angiography, and he was diagnosed as Purtscher's retinopathy (PR). Visual acuity at baseline was counting fingers at 20 cm OD, and 1 meter OS. Patient received pulse steroid for 3 days which is followed by oral steroid with decreasing dosage for 11 days. Visual acuity at last control visit (5 months after trauma) was 0.1 OD, and 1.0 OS. Improvement in vision in our case may be spontaneous or secondary to steroid therapy. Since no proven effective treatment is currently available for PR, we believe that pulse steroid should be a potential option in these cases.

KEYWORDS:

• Purtscher's retinopathy
• trauma
• pulse steroid