Choroidopathy and Retinal Detachment: A Rare Sighting in a Case of Postpartum Hemorrhage Presenting With Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome

Abstract

Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) is a rare syndrome characterized by convulsions, headache, fatigue, impaired mental status, and decreased vision. It is mainly accompanied by hypertension. Although the pathophysiology of PRES is unknown, some theories revolve around cerebral autoregulation, the ability to maintain cerebral blood flow, or the brain's ability to maintain steady cerebral blood flow over a varying range of blood pressures by cerebral vaso-constriction or dilation. The presence of subcortical vasogenic edema in the posterior brain and hyperintensity lesions in the occipital and parietal lobes on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain is diagnostic. We present the case of a woman who acquired PRES after a postpartum hemorrhage with no underlying disease, eventually leading to a choroidopathy and sudden onset diminution of vision, early diagnosis of which saved the patient from the catastrophic complication of permanent blindness.