Sickle Cell Trait Presenting as Unilateral Proliferative Retinopathy and Macular Thinning in a Pregnant Woman.
Case Rep Ophthalmol Med 2021;
2021:5988889. [PMID:
34931150 PMCID:
PMC8684531 DOI:
10.1155/2021/5988889]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2021] [Accepted: 11/29/2021] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
To report a case of a pregnant woman with sickle cell trait (SCT) who presented with unilateral proliferative sickle cell retinopathy. Case Presentation. A 26-year-old otherwise healthy pregnant woman presented with the complaint of visual loss in her left eye. The funduscopic examination showed vitreous hemorrhage, sea fan neovascularization, and pale optic disc. Optical coherence tomography revealed macular inner retinal layer thinning and foveal splaying (saucerization of the foveal pit). The investigations, including hemoglobin electrophoresis, verified the diagnosis of sickle cell trait. Blood pressure, fasting blood glucose tests, and tuberculin skin tests were normal. We treated the patient by peripheral retinal photocoagulation over the area of nonperfusion.
Conclusion
Even though the sickle cell trait is generally considered as a milder form of sickle cell disease without severe retinal manifestations, pregnancy should be considered as a trigger that can induce proliferative changes and foveal splaying in this group of patients.
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