Case report: Foveolitis as an indicator of underlying undiagnosed dengue fever

Abstract

We describe a case of dengue fever-associated foveolitis that presented initially to the ophthalmologists with complaints of unilateral diminution of vision. A 30-year-old Indian woman had presented with sudden onset diminution of vision in the left eye (LE) for the past 2 days. It was also associated with low-grade fever and myalgia, which started few days before visual deterioration. Fundus showed few retinal hemorrhages and tiny subretinal yellowish lesions at the fovea in the LE. Optical coherence tomography and fluorescein angiography were indicative of foveolitis. Amsler charting showed a central scotoma in the LE. She was treated with oral steroids along with supportive treatments. A near-complete anatomical and functional recovery was noted. Our case depicts the significance of awareness of the ophthalmic complications of dengue fever among both ophthalmologists and physicians, and also highlights the key clinical and multimodal imaging findings in a case of dengue foveolitis.