Stage 4 Takayasu Retinopathy With Persistent Neovascularization

Takayasu arteritis is a chronic, progressive, autoimmune, granulomatous, medium-to-large vessel-panarteritis. It may cause chronic ocular ischaemia that may be refractory to treatment. We report a case of stage 4 Takayasu retinopathy resistant to conventional treatments. The patient was a 22-year-old woman who was diagnosed with Takayasu arteritis when she first presented with claudication while chewing and swallowing for one month. The patient was found to be hypertensive, with a significant systolic blood pressure difference between the arms and non-palpable bilateral brachial and radial artery pulses. Angiogram imaging revealed abnormalities involving the left subclavian, bilateral common carotid and left internal carotid arteries. She was referred to the ophthalmology clinic, as she experienced bilateral recurrent transient visual loss six months after the diagnosis. Dilated fundus examination showed bilateral stage 2 Takayasu retinopathy, evidenced by the presence of dilated retinal veins with microaneurysms. Her eyes progressed to stage 4 Takayasu retinopathy with proliferative retinopathy within one year of immunomodulatory therapy, largely due to poor compliance. No signs of regression were observed after completion of bilateral pan-retinal photocoagulation (PRP) with ongoing immunosuppressive treatment.