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Isolated retinal astrocytic hamartoma masquerading as viral retinitis
  1. Dipanjana Das,
  2. Tanya Jain,
  3. Rushil Kumar Saxena and
  4. Manisha Agarwal
  1. Vitreo-Retina and Uvea, Dr Shroff's Charity Eye Hospital Delhi, New Delhi, India
  1. Correspondence to Dr Manisha Agarwal; agarwalmannii{at}yahoo.co.in

Abstract

A female in her early 50s presented with a yellowish-white retinal lesion with fluffy margins along with flame-shaped haemorrhages and cystoid macular oedema in the left eye. Due to a recent history of fever, a presumptive diagnosis of viral retinitis was made. Following no response to antiviral therapy, the patient underwent a revision of the diagnosis using multimodal imaging. Fundus fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) revealed a dense vascular network in the lesion, suggestive of an isolated retinal astrocytic hamartoma (RAH). All ongoing treatment was stopped, and the patient was kept under observation. She was stable without any treatment at 1-year follow-up. This is an unusual case of isolated RAH without any systemic involvement, acting as a potential masquerade. Multimodal imaging, including OCTA, is diagnostic of RAH. This helps avoid unnecessary treatment with corticosteroids and antiviral therapy.

  • Retina
  • Oncology

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Footnotes

  • Contributors DD, TJ and RKS were responsible for drafting of the text, sourcing and editing of clinical images, investigation results, drawing original diagrams and algorithms and critical revision for important intellectual content. MA gave final approval of the manuscript.

  • Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

  • Case reports provide a valuable learning resource for the scientific community and can indicate areas of interest for future research. They should not be used in isolation to guide treatment choices or public health policy.

  • Competing interests None declared.

  • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.