Unilateral foveomacular retinitis resembling solar retinopathy among young soldiers in Korean army and associated multimodal imaging findings

Abstract:

AIM: To describe the clinical features and multimodal images of unilateral foveomacular retinitis in young Korean soldiers. METHODS: Ten patients having foveomacular retinitis were included. Fluorescein angiography, fundus autofluorescence (FAF), infrared reflectance (IR), and spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were analyzed. RESULTS: All patients were young males experienced insidious visual decline without exposure to bright light. Initial and final vision ranged from hand movement to 20/20 (median 20/200) and 20/2000 to 20/20 (median 20/500), respectively. Vision decreased in 6 patients while improved in two. Typical macular abnormality was yellow granular spots. SD-OCT showed ellipsoid zone (EZ) or interdigitation zone (IZ) disruption of fovea. The degree of EZ/IZ damage correlated with vision. Lesions were clearly visualized through IR and matched with SD-OCT findings. CONCLUSION: This is the first case series of foveomacular retinitis diagnosed with multimodal imaging. Foveomacular retinitis should be suspected in sudden unilateral visual decline especially in young soldiers. SD-OCT is the most important diagnostic modality.