Long-Term Bilateral Poorly Treated Acute Syphilitic Posterior Placoid Chorioretinitis Complicated with Choroidal Neovascularization: A Case Report

PURPOSE: To describe a case of long-term poorly treated bilateral acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) complicated with choroidal neovascularization, with a multimodal imaging approach. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Retrospective case report. Analysis of patient’s clinical data. CASE REPORT: A healthy 66-year-old man complained of decreased visual acuity in the right eye (RE). He had a past history of bilateral exudative maculopathy of unknown etiology, lasting for more than 10 years and leading to severe and irreversible vision loss on the left eye. The corrected distance visual acuity (CDVA) was 20/63 on the RE and <20/400 on the left eye (LE). On slit-lamp, no anterior chamber reaction was observed, a vitreous haze was present on the RE as well as large, bilateral yellowish lesions in the macula, with exuberant macular atrophy, particularly on the LE. These well-defined lesions were confined to the posterior pole. The spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) showed a flat retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) detachment with hyperreflective material beneath the RPE and cystoid macular edema on the RE and an exuberant macular atrophy on the LE, with both eyes showing anomalous enlargement of choroidal vessels. The fluorescein angiography showed general hypofluorescence and indocyanine green angiography revealed a heterogeneous pattern. The OCT angiography (OCTA) of the RE demonstrated an anomalous vascular network related to the presence of choroidal neovascularization (CNV). An etiological study was performed and a positive treponemal test (TPHA) was found. The patient experienced visual acuity improvement to 20/25 after systemic treatment with Penicillin and anti-VEGF injections. CONCLUSION: Clinical data and multimodal imaging information suggest that this case represents a complication of long-term untreated bilateral acute syphilitic posterior placoid chorioretinitis (ASPPC) with associated choroidal neovascularization. Once the RE presented signs of active disease, besides intravitreal anti-VEGF, treatment of the underlying disease was essential for visual recovery.