Plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 4G/5G polymorphism and dyslipidemia with branch retinal artery occlusion in a young lady

Branch retinal artery occlusion (BRAO) leads obstruction of blood flow in the distribution of the affected vessel giving rise to ischemia and reorganization of the retinal layers. It is a very rare diagnosis and the etiological risk factors of BRAO are not clean in the young population. Various hypercoagulable states leading to thrombosis appeared to be more responsible. Here, the authors present an interesting case of a 25-year-old female patient with BRAO accompanying with plasminogen activator inhibitor-1(PAI-1) 4G/5G gene polymorphism and dyslipidemia together, for the first time. There was a history of sudden painless blurred vision in her right eye 3 months ago. Her visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes at the admittion. Fundus photo, red-free photo, optical coherence tomography images of 3 months ago revealed BRAO in the right eye. Fundus exam and images taken at the 3th month confirmed the recovery of retinal edema. Attenuation of inferotemporal retinal artery still mildly appeared. Applied confrontation fields showed a visual field defect corresponding with affected area. Ophthalmologists are advised to be aware of the importance of PAI-1 4G / 5G gene polymorphism and dyslipidemia conditions besides the other genetic mutations and thrombophilic markers regarding BRAO in young patients.