PURPOSE: To evaluate the progressive lesions affecting the visual system in a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). METHODS: The authors observed a 15-year-old boy with SSPE. Since the diagnosis was made before the appearance of ocular manifestations, the authors recorded the progressive ocular lesions using various ophthalmic examinations. RESULTS: The patient showed no ophthalmic abnormalities until he developed a left homonymous hemianopia with sudden bilateral disturbed visual acuity. Severe progressive macular lesions including a pigment epithelial window defect by fluorescein angiography, a marked decrease in foveal thickness by optical coherence tomography, and an extensive disorder mainly specific to cone cells in the central retina by electroretinography were demonstrated. Novel findings such as a transient relative afferent pupillary defect and an anterior uveitis were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Analyses over a long period of time showed progressive ophthalmic findings in a patient with SSPE.
PURPOSE: To evaluate the progressive lesions affecting the visual system in a patient with subacute sclerosing panencephalitis (SSPE). METHODS: The authors observed a 15-year-old boy with SSPE. Since the diagnosis was made before the appearance of ocular manifestations, the authors recorded the progressive ocular lesions using various ophthalmic examinations. RESULTS: The patient showed no ophthalmic abnormalities until he developed a left homonymous hemianopia with sudden bilateral disturbed visual acuity. Severe progressive macular lesions including a pigment epithelial window defect by fluorescein angiography, a marked decrease in foveal thickness by optical coherence tomography, and an extensive disorder mainly specific to cone cells in the central retina by electroretinography were demonstrated. Novel findings such as a transient relative afferent pupillary defect and an anterior uveitis were also observed. CONCLUSIONS: Analyses over a long period of time showed progressive ophthalmic findings in a patient with SSPE.