Retinal vasculitis associated with chickenpox

PURPOSE: To report retinal vasculitis in a young, immunocompetent Asian fem ale adult with chickenpox. METHODS: Interventional case report. A 32-year-old woman had chickenpox 2 w eeks before blurred vision in the left eye. The visual acuity was 20/20 for the right eye and 30/50 for the left eye. The left eye presented keratic p recipitates, moderate (2+) cells in the anterior chamber and numerous cells (3+) in the vitreous. The disk was normal. Perivenous exudation was noted mainly in the inferior retina. The sheathed retinal vessels showed late sta ining but no remarkable leakage on fluorescein angiography. The right eye w as normal. RESULTS: After treatment with acyclovir for 10 days, the visual acuity in t he left eye improved to 20/20, and the vasculitis resolved. CONCLUSION: Retinal vasculitis may present as a complication of primary var icella infection in an immunocompetent adult. (C) 2001 by Elsevier Science Inc. All rights reserved.