Maurice F. Rabb » Retinal Arteriovenous Malformation

An asymptomatic 14 year old white girl was found to have a retinal arteriovenous malformation in the left eye in 1981. The case was presented to the Fluorescein Club at that time where there was general agreement that the visual prognosis was good and that such malformations rarely were associated with intracranial vascular malformations when the retinal changes were limited to only a sector of the fundus.

Two years later the patient developed visual loss in the left eye but did not seek attention for nine months. In 1983 visual acuity in the left eye was 20/300 and the fundus showed a swollen optic disc, diffuse retinal thickening, preretinal membrane formation, and sheathing of the AVM. Fluorescein angiography showed prolonged retinal circulation time.

In 1984, visual acuity remained at 20/400. The disc was atrophic and collateralizaton had occurred around the disc and temporal to the mucula. High resolution CT scan of the orbits and head was normal.