Multimodal imaging of reactive retinal astrocytic vasoproliferative tumour in a case of systemic tuberculosis

Abstract

A man in his 20s presented with diminished vision in the left eye. He had a history of Pott’s spine and had been diagnosed elsewhere as having left eye tubercular granuloma in the retina. He was started on anti-tubercular therapy and high-dose oral steroids. He presented to us 1 month later. Presently fundus examination revealed a yellow to whitish mass temporal to disc with diffuse hard exudates throughout the retina. Swept-source optical coherence tomography (SSOCT) revealed a hyper-reflective mass involving the retina. SSOCT angiography and fundus fluorescein angiography revealed vascularity within the lesion. We made a diagnosis of a secondary reactive retinal astrocytic vasoproliferative tumour (VPT) and hence tapered the steroids and given intravitreal bevacizumab injection. At 6 weeks follow-up after intravitreal bevacizumab, there was some amount of resolution of hard exudates along with reduction of the vascular pattern of the lesion. The peripapillary location and development of a VPT following resolution of a presumed tubercular granuloma is rare.