Retinal periarteritis secondary to syphilis.

A 43-year-old black woman showed ophthalmoscopic evidence of retinal arteriolitis two weeks after being treated for uniocular panuveitis. Angiographic examination suggested that these deposits were not intraluminal or endothelial atherosclerotic emboli or plaques, but were deposits in the outer walls of retinal arterioles. Sequential ophthalmoscopic and angiographic examinations at one-month intervals for 12 months showed no progression or change in location of these deposits. Results of clinical and laboratory investigations suggested the diagnosis of syphilis. We believe it is rare for syphilitic infection to be implicated in the diagnosis of isolated retinal arteriolitis without periphlebitis.