Lachlan Farmer, Deepa Taranath, Stewart Lake

Purpose:
To demonstrate the role of FundusFlourescein Angiography (FFA) in the diagnosis andmanagement of a case of retinal vasculopathy in newborn.

Method:
An ex-premature twin baby girl, born at28 wks gestation from an overseas In Vitro Fertilisationpregnancy (donor eggs & surrogate mother) was iden-tified to have bilateral macular scars postnatally. FFAdone once retrieved to Australia (12 weeks correctedage) revealed bilateral peripheral avascular retinas andabnormal vascular patterns. A provisional diagnosis ofcongenital TORCH infection with ocular involvementwas made. Bilateral peripheral retinal laser wasapplied. Routine TORCH serologies were negative.

Results:
At 7 months corrected age, she developed adermatomaly distributed blanching maculopapularrash consistent with a clinical diagnosis of HerpesZoster, this was later proven through a positive skinswab Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) for the Vari-cella Zoster Virus (VZV). A retrospective diagnosis ofCongenital Varicella Syndrome was made.

Conclusion:
Congenital TORCH infections haveocular involvement of varying degrees. Definitivediagnosis if often challenging and there is very littleinformation available in literature regarding infectiousperipheral retinal vasculopathies in the newborn. Thiscase demonstrates the impact of varicella infection in apreterm retina resulting in peripheral retinalvasculopathy and maculopathy. The role of FFA indiagnosis and management is elucidated.