[Early neuro-ophthalmological symptoms of periarteritis nodosa. A case report (author's transl)].

A report is given on a 47-year-old woman with periarteritis nodosa. A unilateral retinopathy with disseminated cotton-wool-spots surrounded by retinal haemorrhages and edema was observed. Fluoresceinangiography showed a multifocal constriction of the retinal capillaries. This lesion of the retinal vessels can be distinguished from those caused by hypertension. An acute immunological reaction has been suggested as the pathogenesis. Some authors have described this retinal lesion in collagen diseases as a "toxic" retinopathy. We prefer the term acute immunological microangiopathy (AIM).