Abstract
Retinopathy in systemic lupus erythematosus generally consists of cotton-wool spots with or without intraretinal hemorrhages. Although rare, a more severe retinal vaso-occlusive disease, termed retinal vasculitis, has been described. We report data from 11 patients with SLE and severe retinal vasoocclusive disease. Visual outcome was often poor, with 55% of the involved eyes suffering visual loss, frequently to an acuity of worse than 20/200. The systemic feature significantly associated with severe retinal vascular disease was central nervous system involvement (CNS lupus), present in eight (73%) of the 11 patients vs an overall prevalence of 37%. The association of CNS lupus with severe retinal vaso-occlusive disease probably reflects a similar pathogenetic mechanism and microangiopathy.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 558-563 |
Number of pages | 6 |
Journal | Archives of Ophthalmology |
Volume | 104 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Apr 1986 |
Externally published | Yes |