Journal of Rheumatic Diseases  2016;23(5):326-331

doi:10.4078/jrd.2016.23.5.326

A Case of a Central Retinal Artery Occlusion in a Patient with Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Eun Kyoung PARK 1 ; Seung Geun LEE ; Dong Wan KOO ; Ji Heh PARK ; Young Mi SEOL ; Shinwon LEE ; Sun Hack LEE ; In Su KIM ; Sungwho PARK

Affiliations

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Keywords

Retinal artery occlusion; Rheumatoid arthritis

Country

Republic of Korea

Language

English

Abstract

A 50-year-old woman, who had been treated for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over a 10-year period, suddenly presented with monocular vision loss while the RA had a stable course over many years. She was diagnosed with central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) based on ophthalmologic examinations including optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography. There was no evidence of atherosclerosis, infection, and malignancy that can cause CRAO. Considering the association between CRAO and other rheumatic diseases, such as systemic vasculitis and systemic lupus erythematous in previous reports, it was presumed that her RA might have contributed to the development of CRAO. Although cases of CRAO in patients with RA are extremely rare, these findings suggest that physicians need to be aware of the possibility of CRAO in patients with RA who experience decreased visual acuity.