title: Rift Valley fever ocular manifestations: observations during the 1977 epidemic in Egypt.
abstract: Ocular manifestations resulting from Rift Valley fever (RVF) virus infection were studied during an extensive RVF epidemic in Egypt during 1977. Colour photography and fluorescein angiography of 7 serologically diagnosed patients showed the commonest manifestations to be macular, paramacular, and/or extramacular retinal lesions, often occurring bilaterally. Haemorrhage and oedema were frequently associated with the lesions, and vasculitis, retinitis, and vascular occlusion were also observed. Patients were monitored during a 6-month convalescence, and, though resorption of the lesions occurred, approximately half the patients experienced permanent loss of visual acuity. Ocular disease was one form of the clinical spectrum of RVF; acute febrile, encephalitic, and fatal haemorrhagic RVF illnesses were also observed during the epidemic.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D004196:Disease Outbreaks; D004487:Edema / Q000209:etiology; D004534:Egypt; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008266:Macula Lutea; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000209:etiology*; D012166:Retinal Hemorrhage / Q000209:etiology; D012295:Rift Valley Fever / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology; D013997:Time Factors; D014657:Vasculitis / Q000209:etiology; D014792:Visual Acuity