Viral causes of the acute retinal necrosis syndrome

Acute retinal necrosis in the United Kingdom: results of a prospective surveillance study

“…7 This study confirms that ARN can affect all age groups, with HSV-2 being identified in younger patients and VZV and HSV-1 in older patients. 2 Bilateral disease is less common than previously thought, probably because of early disease recognition and antiviral treatment. 8 In recent years the introduction of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) both qualitatively and quantitatively has revolutionized the diagnosis of necrotizing retinitis.…”

“…The human herpes viruses known to cause ARN are varicella-zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex 1 and 2 (HSV1, HSV2), and, less commonly, cytomegalovirus (CMV) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV). 2,3 Progressive outer retinal necrosis (PORN) has been described as a similar syndrome with minimal inflammation in immunocompromised patients.…”

Bilateral acute retinal necrosis syndrome following herpes simplex type 1 encephalitis

“…3 Idiopathic CNV has a better prognosis; but older patients and larger lesions fare worse, irrespective of the baseline acuity. 4 In our patient, HRD was probably caused by TTT-induced vasodilatation, and subsequent closure, 2 resulting in dehiscence of choroidal vessels, weakened by age, hypertension, atherosclerosis, and diabetes. The use of multiple burns might also have contributed to HRD, by excessive thermal damage at the overlapping edges.…”

“…2 Acute retinal necrosis is a clinical diagnosis and standard diagnostic criteria have been published by Holland et al 3 VZV and HSV-1 are associated with acute retinal necrosis in the older population while HSV-2 is the more common pathogen in under 25-year olds. 4 We have found 20 cases of unilateral ARN associated with HSE in the absence of human immune deficiency virus in the literature in the last 20 years. 1,4-16 Pepose et al 15 reports a case of HSE 3 weeks following ARN.…”

Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) in the context of neonatal HSV-2 exposure and subconjunctival dexamethasone: case report and literature review

“…This is supported by the number of published cases of HSV-2 ARN with neonatal exposure, twice as many of which have been seen in the last decade, compared to those reported in the 1990s. 3,5,6,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21] Although many documented cases of HSV-2 ARN in the literature have a history of neonatal exposure, some patients do not have such histories and the question of how the infection was acquired remains. 21 Grose 21 proposed that neonatal HSV-2 infections may be contracted perinatally as a subclinical skin, eye, or mouth infection.…”