The acute retinal necrosis syndrome. Possible herpes simplex retinitis.

The acute retinal necrosis (ARN) syndrome is a severe necrotic peripheral retinitis with vasculitis and vitritis. It attacks healthy people and carries a poor visual prognosis. Five patients with ARN were seen. Two showed interesting clinical features. One patient developed the ARN syndrome in both eyes but with a 14-year hiatus separating the two episodes, each being preceded by an infectious illness. A second patient had a possible recurrence of the ARN syndrome in the same eye, one year after the original episode. Each episode was preceded by an upper respiratory infection and ipsilateral vesicular skin lesions on the face. Biopsy of one lesion yielded herpes simplex virus (HSV) in culture. These associations, although not definitive, do lend support to the hypothesis that HSV may be the cause of the ARN syndrome.