A Rare Case of Hypertensive Chorioretinopathy with Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome (PRES) in a Teenage Girl

Authors

  • Zayani Zohari Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Juni Eyat Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, 15586 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.
  • Qi Zhe Ngoo Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia
  • Zunaina Embong Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

Keywords:

Hypertension, chorioretinopathy, encephalopathy

Abstract

Hypertensive chorioretinopathy is a rare eye manifestation due to acute elevation in blood pressure. In this case, we reported a young hypertensive patient who presented with hypertensive chorioretinopathy and posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES). The purpose of this case report is to raise awareness among clinicians to identify, aggressively treat and monitor paediatric patients with hypertension to prevent life and vision-threatening complications. A 14-year-old Malay girl with a history of uncontrolled hypertension and end-stage renal failure presented with the sudden onset of a generalised tonic-clonic seizure preceded by a headache for two days. There was a progressive blurring of vision in both eyes for four months before the presentation. Visual acuity over the right eye was counting fingers (CF) and hand movement (HM) in the left eye. Both fundi revealed features of hypertensive chorioretinopathy with Elschnig spots and Siegrist streaks. Systemic blood pressure during presentation was 235/152 mmHg. A computed tomography (CT) scan of the brain suggestive features of PRES. Six weeks later, with controlled hypertension, her visual acuity improved to 6/60 in both eyes. Hypertensive chorioretinopathy is usually the sign of an acute, dramatic increase in systemic blood pressure in a young person. Achievement of target blood pressure is important to prevent vision-threatening and neurological complication.

Author Biographies

  • Zayani Zohari, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

    Medical Officer

    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

  • Juni Eyat, Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, 15586 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.

    Ophthalmologist

    Department of Ophthalmology, Hospital Raja Perempuan Zainab II, 15586 Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Malaysia.

  • Qi Zhe Ngoo, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

    Lecturer

    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

  • Zunaina Embong, Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

    Professor Datin Dr. Zunaina

    Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, School of Medical Sciences, University Sains Malaysia, Malaysia

References

Tibbetts MD, Wise R, Forbes B, Hedrick HL, Levin AV. Hypertensive retinopathy in a child caused by pheochromocytoma: identification after a failed school vision screening. J AAPOS. 2012;16(1):97-99. doi:10.1016/j.jaapos.2011.09.010

Foster BJ, Ali H, Mamber S, Polomeno RC, Mackie AS. Prevalence and severity of hypertensive retinopathy in children. Clin Pediatr (Phila). 2009;48(9):926-930. doi:10.1177/0009922809339385

Stacey AW, Sozener CB, Besirli CG. Hypertensive emergency presenting as blurry vision in a patient with hypertensive chorioretinopathy. Int J Emerg Med. 2015;8:13. doi:10.1186/s12245-015-0063-6

Sreeramareddy CT, Chew WF, Poulsaeman V, Boo NY, Choo KB, Yap SF. Blood pressure and its associated factors among primary school children in suburban Selangor, Malaysia: A cross-sectional survey. J Family Community Med. 2013;20(2):90-97. doi:10.4103/2230-8229.114769

Wright RR, Mathews KD. Hypertensive encephalopathy in childhood. J Child Neurol. 1996;11(3):193-196. doi:10.1177/088307389601100305

Bhargava M, Ikram MK, Wong TY. How does hypertension affect your eyes?. J Hum Hypertens. 2012;26(2):71-83. doi:10.1038/jhh.2011.37

Bourke K, Patel MR, Prisant LM, Marcus DM. Hypertensive choroidopathy. J Clin Hypertens (Greenwich). 2004;6(8):471-472. doi:10.1111/j.1524-6175.2004.3749.x

Chobanian AV, Bakris GL, Black HR, et al. Seventh report of the Joint National Committee on prevention, detection, evaluation, and treatment of high blood pressure. Hypertension. 2003;42(6):1206-1252. doi:10.1161/01.HYP.0000107251.49515.c2

Hayreh SS, Servais GE, Virdi PS. Fundus lesions in malignant hypertension. VI. Hypertensive choroidopathy. Ophthalmology. 1986;93(11):1383-1400. doi:10.1016/s0161-6420(86)33554-1

Gök M, Karabas VL, Emre E, Aksar AT, Aslan MS, Ural D. Evaluation of choroidal thickness via enhanced depth-imaging optical coherence tomography in patients with systemic hypertension. Indian J Ophthalmol. 2015;63(3):239-243. doi:10.4103/0301-4738.156928

Browning AC, Mengher LS, Gregson RM, Amoaku WM. Visual outcome of malignant hypertension in young people. Arch Dis Child. 2001;85(5):401-403. doi:10.1136/adc.85.5.401.

Rotsos T, Andreanos K, Blounas S, Brouzas D, Ladas DS, Ladas ID. Multimodal imaging of hypertensive chorioretinopathy by swept-source optical coherence tomography and optical coherence tomography angiography: Case report. Medicine (Baltimore). 2017;96(39):e8110. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000008110

Bartynski WS. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome, part 2: controversies surrounding pathophysiology of vasogenic edema. AJNR Am J Neuroradiol. 2008;29(6):1043-1049. doi:10.3174/ajnr.A0929.

Ando Y, Ono Y, Sano A, Fujita N, Ono S. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: A review of the literature. Intern Med. 2022;61(2):135-141. doi:10.2169/internalmedicine.7520-21.

Gupta V, Bhatia V, Khandelwal N, Singh P, Singhi P. Imaging findings in pediatric posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES): 5 years of experience from a tertiary care center in India. J Child Neurol. 2016;31(9):1166-1173. doi:10.1177/0883073816643409.

Mirza A. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: a variant of hypertensive encephalopathy. J Clin Neurosci. 2006;13(5):590-595. doi:10.1016/j.jocn.2005.03.042.

Anderson RC, Patel V, Sheikh-Bahaei N, et al. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES): Pathophysiology and neuro-imaging. Front Neurol. 2020;11:463. doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00463.

Hinduja A. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome: Clinical features and outcome. Front Neurol. 2020;11:71. doi:10.3389/fneur.2020.00071.

Triplett JD, Kutlubaev MA, Kermode AG, Hardy T. Posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES): diagnosis and management. Pract Neurol. 2022;22(3):183-189. doi:10.1136/practneurol-2021-003194.

Pringle C, Portwood K, Viamonte MA, Rajderkar D. Imaging findings in neonatal and pediatric posterior reversible encephalopathy syndrome (PRES) differ from adults. Pediatr Neurol. 2022;135:6-11. doi:10.1016/j.pediatrneurol.2022.06.022.

Abdul Rahman AR, Rosman A, Yook Chin C, Thiagarajan N, Alan Wen Kin P, Mustapha FI, et al. Clinical practice guideline: Management of hypertension 5th Edition (2018). Ministry of Health Malaysia. 2018;18.

Downloads

Published

2024-09-02

Issue

Section

Journal of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences