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Case Reports
. 2018 Mar 14;5(5):e005145.
doi: 10.1099/jmmcr.0.005145. eCollection 2018 May.

Optic neuropathy and congenital glaucoma associated with probable Zika virus infection in Venezuelan patients

C Gustavo De Moraes  1 , Michele Pettito  2 , Juan B Yepez  2 , Anavaj Sakuntabhai  3   4 , Etienne Simon-Loriere  3   4 , Mussaret B Zaidi  5   6 , Matthieu Prot  3   4 , Claude Ruffie  7   8 , Susan S Kim  9 , Rando Allikmets  1 , Joseph D Terwilliger  10   11   12   13 , Joseph H Lee  11   14 , Gladys E Maestre  15   16   17
Affiliations
Case Reports

Optic neuropathy and congenital glaucoma associated with probable Zika virus infection in Venezuelan patients

C Gustavo De Moraes et al. JMM Case Rep. .

Erratum in

Abstract

Introduction: Although the current Zika virus (ZIKV) epidemic is a major public health concern, most reports have focused on congenital ZIKV syndrome, its most devastating manifestation. Severe ocular complications associated with ZIKV infections and possible pathogenetic factors are rarely described. Here, we describe three Venezuelan patients who developed severe ocular manifestations following ZIKV infections. We also analyse their serological response to ZIKV and dengue virus (DENV).

Case presentation: One adult with bilateral optic neuritis, a child of 4 years of age with retrobulbar neuritis [corrected]. and a newborn with bilateral congenital glaucoma had a recent history of an acute exanthematous infection consistent with ZIKV infection. The results of ELISA tests indicated that all patients were seropositive for ZIKV and four DENV serotypes.

Conclusion: Patients with ZIKV infection can develop severe ocular complications. Anti-DENV antibodies from previous infections could play a role in the pathogenesis of these complications. Well-designed epidemiological studies are urgently needed to measure the risk of ZIKV ocular complications and confirm whether they are associated with the presence of anti-flaviviral antibodies.

Keywords: Zika virus; arbovirus; congenital glaucoma; dengue; optic neuritis; steroid treatment; uveitis; vision loss.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that there are no conflicts of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Patient described in Case 1. (a) Fundus photographs showing the optic nerve heads and maculas of the left and right eyes. (b) Optical coherence tomography (OCT) of the left and right eyes showing optic disc swelling; both macular scans are normal. (c) Visual field testing results showing diffuse contrast sensitivity loss. (d) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showing no abnormalities.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Patient described in Case 2. (a) Fundus examination revealed optic disc pallor and an edematous nerve fibre layer. Due to poor visual acuity, the patient was unable to perform visual field or optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans. (b) Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain showing no abnormalities.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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