title: [Neuroretinitis].
abstract: Eight patients presenting with the characteristic clinical picture of neuroretinitis are described. The decrease in visual acuity was caused by a papillitis, whereas the macular star developed later in the course of the disease when the visual acuity had already recovered. Five of our 8 cases were adults, a fact which demonstrates that neuroretinitis is not only confined to childhood. Three of the 8 cases were bilateral, two of them children. Two patients presented with neuroretinitis and additional inflammatory processes of other ocular segments (one with chorioretinitis and vasculitis; one with scleritis and uveitis), suggesting that a general vascular inflammation may be present in neuroretinitis. The macular star is produced by lipid-rich exudate in Henle's nerve fiber layer, thus giving the picture of stellate retinopathy. The exudate probably leaks from the disk due to a defect in the blood-tissue barrier or a loosening of the border tissue at the disk margin. The etiology of neuroretinitis remains an enigma. Serologic and cultural tests for preceding viral infections have so far been inconclusive.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis; D012173:Retinitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000175:diagnosis
vernacular_title: Neuroretinitis.