title: HLA-A29-POSITIVE BIRDSHOT CHORIORETINOPATHY IN AN AFRICAN AMERICAN PATIENT.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To report the first documented case of HLA-A29-positive birdshot chorioretinopathy in an African American patient.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 51-year-old African American woman presented with a 10-year history of photopsia, progressive decrease in visual acuity, metamorphopsia, and new nyctalopia. Both fundi showed evidence of periphlebitis, arterial attenuation, macular edema, and diffuse chorioretinal atrophy.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Fluorescein angiography revealed diffuse vascular leakage, and indocyanine green showed evenly distributed and symmetrical hypofluorescent spots, which were difficult to appreciate on fundoscopy. Workup revealed a positive HLA-A29 and was negative for sarcoid, tuberculosis, and syphilis.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Birdshot chorioretinopathy overwhelmingly affects non-Hispanic Caucasians, but there have been rare reported cases in other ethnicities including Hispanics and African Americans. This patient's ethnicity may have contributed to the 10-year delay in diagnosis. To our knowledge, this is the first documented HLA-A29 positive case of birdshot chorioretinopathy in an African American. HLA-A29 may be a useful supportive test in cases with classic clinical presentation in non-Caucasian patients to enable the correct diagnose in a timely manner.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Ophthalmology, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, Illinois; and †Department of Ophthalmology, Rush University, Chicago, Illinois.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Knezevic
authors.forename: Marion R
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Munk
authors.forename: Frankie
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pappas
authors.forename: Pauline T
authors.initials: PT
authors.lastname: Merrill
authors.forename: Debra A
authors.initials: DA
authors.lastname: Goldstein
mesh_terms: D000080365:Birdshot Chorioretinopathy; D002825:Chorioretinitis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D015234:HLA-A Antigens / Q000032:analysis*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D015234:HLA-A Antigens; C035524:HLA-A29 antigen