Acute Retinal Necrosis

Excerpt

Acute retinal necrosis (ARN) is characterized by peripheral necrotizing retinitis usually due to infection with varicella-zoster virus (VZV), herpes simplex virus (HSV I or II). Typically, acute retinal necrosis occurs in immunocompetent individuals, however, it can occur in immunocompromised patients also. It can be unilateral or bilateral. If it becomes bilateral, it is known as bilateral ARN or BARN. The disease was described in 1971 in Japan by Urayama and his colleagues. They described six cases of panuveitis with vitritis, retinal periarteritis, peripheral confluent areas of retinal necrosis, and retinal detachment. ARN has also been called as Kirisawa's uveitis in Japan.