Congenital Retinal Macrovessel: a Case Report

Abstract

We report a rare clinical case of a 66-year-old Caucasian male with slightly decreased vision in his left eye. After comprehensive ophthalmic examination and multimodal imaging with fundus photography, spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein angiography (FA), and a 30-2 visual field tests, he was diagnosed with congenital retinal macrovessel crossing the fovea avascular zone in his left eye. His right eye is unremarkable on ophthalmic exams. Congenital retinal macrovessel refers to an aberrant vessel, usually a vein, which transverse the macula and supplies both sides of the horizontal raphe. Various retinal abnormalities or clinical complications have been reported in association with congenital retinal macrovessel, such as cystoid macular edema, fovea cysts, macular exudates, hemorrhage, serous retinal detachment and branch vein occlusion. In our patient, there were not significant clinical complications. The reduction in the vision of the left eye could be explained by irregularity and slight enlargement of the foveal avascular zone (FAZ). In addition, patient's congenital macrovessel may have caused a relative angioscotoma, which could also affect the visual acuity (VA).