CLINICAL AND ETIOLOGICAL SPECTRUM OF RETINAL VASCULITIS IN ADULTS ATTENDING A TERTIARY-CARE OPHTHALMOLOGY CLINIC IN HYDERABAD: A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY

Background: Retinal vasculitis is a heterogeneous inflammatory disorder in which regional infectious epidemiology canstrongly influence the diagnostic spectrum. This study described the clinical presentation and likely causes of retinalvasculitis in adults attending a tertiary-care ophthalmology service in Hyderabad, India. Materials and Methods: Ahospital-based observational cross-sectional study was conducted from July 2024 to December 2025. All consenting adultswho met the study criteria for retinal vasculitis underwent history taking, visual acuity assessment, slit-lamp and dilatedfundus examination, intraocular pressure measurement and fundus photography. Optical coherence tomography and fundusfluorescein angiography were performed when clinically indicated. Infectious, inflammatory and thrombotic investigationswere selected according to the ocular phenotype and systemic findings. Results: Thirty patients were included; mean agewas 36.87 +/- 13.62 years and 19 (63.3%) were women. Defective vision was reported by 24 (80.0%) and floaters by 14(46.7%). Vascular sheathing was the leading recorded sign (73.3%), followed by peripheral capillary non-perfusion (60.0%)and vitritis (46.7%). Among 39 eyes with a documented vessel pattern, periphlebitis predominated in 34 (87.2%). Infectiouscauses accounted for 23 patients (76.7%): presumed tuberculous vasculitis in 11 (36.7%), toxoplasmosis in 8 (26.7%),cytomegalovirus in 2 (6.7%) and herpes simplex virus in 2 (6.7%). Five patients (16.7%) remained idiopathic and 2 (6.7%)had systemic lupus erythematosus. Conclusion: Retinal vasculitis in this cohort was chiefly venous and predominantlyassociated with infectious etiologies, particularly presumed ocular tuberculosis and toxoplasmosis. A phenotype-directedsystemic work-up is important in endemic settings.