Acute retinal necrosis historical perspective

Acute retinal necrosis was first discovered in 1971 by Urayama A, Yamada N, and Sasaki T. Acute retinal necrosis was first officially classified as bilateral acute retinal necrosis in 1978 by N.J. Young and A.C. Bird, applied to 4 cases of bilateral necrotizing retinitis that progressed to retinal detachment and phthisis despite corticosteroid and antibiotic therapy. In the 1980s, emergence of pathological and electron findings from analysis of vitrectomy and enucleation specimens led to the identification of members of the herpes virus family as the cause of acute retinal necrosis. The official diagnostic criteria for acute retinal necrosis was proposed by the American Uveitis Society in 1994.

• Acute retinal necrosis was first discovered in 1971 by Urayama A, Yamada N, and Sasaki T.^[1]
• Acute retinal necrosis was first officially classified as bilateral acute retinal necrosis in 1978 by N.J. Young and A.C. Bird.^[2]
  • The classification was applied to 4 cases of bilateral necrotizing retinitis, in which the patients developed bilateral confluent retinitis progressing to retinal detachment and phthisis despite corticosteroid and antibiotic therapy.^[1]
• The first extension of the classification of acute retinal necrosis to unilateral cases was given in 1983 by Hayasaka S. et al.^[3]
  • They showed that cases of bilateral acute retinal necrosis and cases of Kirisawa-type uveitis presented nearly identical characteristics:^[4][2]
    • Periarteritis
    • Opaque, dense vitreous
    • Peripheral retinal exudates
    • Retinal detachment
    • Vision loss
    • Resistance to antibiotic therapy
    • Negative test results for bacterial infection
• In the 1980s, emergence of pathological and electron findings from analysis of vitrectomy and enucleation specimens led to the identification of members of the herpes virus family as the cause of acute retinal necrosis.
• The official diagnostic criteria for acute retinal necrosis was proposed by the American Uveitis Society in 1994.

Template:WH Template:WS