The great escape- preserved cilioretinal artery with transient central retinal artery occlusion following snake bite

Abstract

A 24-year female sustained a snake bite on the lateral side of the left ankle, followed by localized pain and blurring of vision in right eye. Her best corrected visual acuity was 20/20 in the both eyes. Relative afferent pupillary defect was noted in right eye. Fundus examination of right eye showed clear media, normal optic disc and retinal whitening with sparing of small area on macula, temporal to disc with small cilioretinal artery, suggestive of central retinal artery occlusion (CRAO) with presence of cilioretinal artery sparing. Ophthalmic manifestations following a snake bite are uncommon and can arise through diverse mechanism such as hematotoxicity from the snake bite, resulting in CRAO. Although CRAO following snake bite has been reported, we present a very rare case of snake bite induced transient CRAO with presence of spared cilioretinal artery.