Retinal profile: a clinical indicator of severity in dengue fever in a suburban Indian environment.

PurposeTo study the retinal changes in subjects suffering from dengue fever and check if these changes can be taken as sufficient indicator of severity and progression of the disease.Patients/MethodsA detailed history was recorded of 118 patients on whom ocular examination, including direct ophthalmoscopy, indirect ophthalmoscopy and coloured fundus photography, was performed.ResultsForty-seven percent of patients were found to have posterior segment abnormalities. Retinal vein dilatation or tortuosity was the most common finding followed by changes in the optic disc (8.4% of patients) and background haemorrhage (6.7% of patients). With increasing severity of thrombocytopenia, the proportion of patients with retinal abnormalities increased. In patients with grade I thrombocytopenia, no fundal abnormality was found. In those with grade II thrombocytopenia, fundal abnormality was found in 13.63% patients, whereas in the grade III category it was 27.90%.ConclusionsSeverity of thrombocytopenia had a significa...