Bilateral Central Retinal Vein Occlusion in a Patient with Takayasu Arteritis

ABSTRACT

Purpose@#We report bilateral central retinal vein occlusion in a patient with Takayasu arteritis.Case summary: A 52-year-old female with hypertension complained of decreased vision in both eyes. The best-corrected visual acuities (BCVAs) were 0.2 in the right eye and 0.15 in the left eye. Fundus examination and optical coherence tomography revealed dilated and tortuous retinal veins, many flame-shaped hemorrhages, and macular edema in both eyes. We diagnosed central retinal vein occlusion in both eyes. Neck ultrasonography and computed tomography/angiography revealed Takayasu arteritis with near-total occlusion of the left common carotid artery, external carotid artery, and subclavian artery. We prescribed oral azathioprine and three monthly intravitreal injections of bevacizumab (Avastin®; Genentech, Inc., South San Francisco, CA, USA, 1.25 mg/0.05 mL). After 6 months of treatment, the retinal hemorrhage and macular edema disappeared and the BCVAs improved to 0.6 in the right and 0.8 in the left eye. @*Conclusions@#When encountering a case of bilateral central retinal vein occlusion, assessment of systemic vascular occlusive diseases such as Takayasu arteritis may be required.