A curious case of Purtscher’s-like retinopathy

Purtscher's retinopathy is a retinal manifestation of head, chest and lower limb compressive injuries. Purtscher's-like retinopathy includes cases that mimic Purtscher's retinopathy but are not associated with trauma. The reported case is that of a 15yr-old male admitted to the general male medical ward after an episode of fever, cough, cold, abdominal pain and weight loss since 10 days. The treating physician considered an infective etiology as the primary differential and empirical treatment was started upon admission as for a case of acute febrile illness. However an ophthalmic consult was sought for in view of the visual loss. On ophthalmic examination the retina in both eyes showed white retinal patches distributed around the disc with superficial hemorrhages together with vascular sheathing and papillitis.