Sudden retinitis

[spike03]

My twenty year old son called me from work saying his eye had gone blurry. We saw our eye doctor that afternoon
and his diagnosis was retinitis. He is having a test done by someone tomorrow to determine what type. His other eye also has it, but so far his vision is ok.  He had an eye exam Jan 2011 and had perfect vision. Needless to say, we are scared to death after reading some things about this eye condition. Can you help shed some light on this for us. He is currently taking a steriod to lessen inflammation.

[Timothy D McGarity, M.D.]

That's not a very specific diagnosis. And you went to an eye doctor? What does that mean? There is a big difference between an eye doctor and a Medical Doctor who is specifically trained in the eye, the body and surgery=Ophthalmologist. You need to maek sure to see an ophthalmologist...and this is not to say optometrists are no good, trust me I employ an optometrist and she's fantastic. Retinits...it sounds inflammatory. Probably has some form of Autoimmune Retinitis and not an infectious form of Retinitis. I would make sure he is seen by a Retina Specialist MD Ophthalmologist maybe even one who specializes in Uveitis (inflammations inside the eye). Please keep us posted on how your son is doing. Best wishes
\

Sincerely,
Timothy D. McGarity, M.D.

[spike03]

We saw our ophthalmologist yesterday and after they did a test the pictures he showed us showed significant inflammation in both eyes as well as scar tissue. His diagnosis is choriditis/vasculitis. He sent us to the hospital for blood work and a chest xray. We are also seeing our family MD for a complete physical friday. Our ophthalmologist did say he will be referring us to a specialist. My son is to continue taking prednisone as well as prednisolone drops. Should we be doing anything differently? It appears they believe this condition is from an autoimmune disease. Thank you for any advice. We will go where ever we need to to help save his vision!