TY - JOUR T1 - Purtscher’s retinopathy: epidemiology, clinical features and outcome JF - British Journal of Ophthalmology JO - Br J Ophthalmol SP - 1456 LP - 1459 DO - 10.1136/bjo.2007.117408 VL - 91 IS - 11 AU - Ashish Agrawal AU - Martin McKibbin Y1 - 2007/11/01 UR - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/91/11/1456.abstract N2 - Aims: To study the incidence, systemic associations, presenting features and natural history of Purtscher’s retinopathy in the UK and Ireland.Methods: Cases were collected prospectively by active surveillance through the British Ophthalmological Surveillance Unit. Clinical details were obtained using an incident questionnaire, with follow-up at 1 and 6 months.Results: Clinical details were obtained for 15 cases over 12 months. These were associated with road traffic accidents in 6 cases, chest compression in 6 cases and acute pancreatitis in 3 cases. All cases were symptomatic and presented with loss of visual acuity, visual field or a combination. Bilateral involvement was noted in 9 cases. The acute retinal signs of cotton wool spots, retinal haemorrhage and Purtscher flecken cleared within 1 month in 26% of eyes and within 6 months in all eyes. The most common chronic signs were optic disc pallor and atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium. Without treatment, 50% of eyes improved by at least 2 Snellen lines at final follow-up and 23% improved by at least 4 Snellen lines. Only 1 of the 24 eyes had a final acuity worse than that recorded at presentation.Conclusion: Purtscher’s retinopathy is a rare but sight-threatening eye condition, most commonly seen in young or middle-aged men and after trauma. Spontaneous visual recovery of at least 2 Snellen lines is seen in half of the cases. ER -