Fundus Findings in Dengue Fever: A Case Report

Abstract

Dengue fever is a flavivirus infection transmitted through infected mosquitoes, and is endemic in Southeast Asia, Central and South America, the Pacific, Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean region. A 41-year-old male patient had visual impairment after travelling to Thailand, which is one of the endemic areas. Cotton wool spots were observed on fundus examination. Fundus fluorescein angiography showed minimal vascular leakage from areas near the cotton wool spots and dot hemorrhages in the macula. Dengue fever should be considered in patients with visual complaints who traveled to endemic areas of dengue fever.

Keywords: Dengue fever; Retina; flavivirus.

Figure 1. Optic coherence tomography cross-sections showing (A) the right macula is within normal range; (B) in the left macula, there is a field of soft exudates on the nasal side of the fovea with increased reflectivity of the inner retinal layers, and in the foveal area, the outer layers of the retina show more irregularity than in the right eye (arrow)

Figure 2. Colored fundus photographs (A, B) showing soft exudates in the right and left eye (arrows); early (C) and late (D) phase fundus fluorescein angiography showing minimal leakage (arrows) from a vasculitic area near the soft exudate field in the inferior nasal left macula