Sickle Cell Retinopathy (Hb SC)

These photographs come from a 42-year-old female patient with sickle cell retinopathy who was seen with a complaint of a new floater in the field of vision of the left eye. She had Hb SC by hemoglobin electrophoresis. The top panel shows the appearance of her fluorescein angiogram. New vessels are present at the blue arrow. A localized vitreous hemorrhage is indicated by the green arrows. This patient underwent panretinal photocoagulation laser (PRP) treatment for her active neovascularization. The red arrow highlights a sunburst lesion (a subretinal scar from previous hemorrhage that has resolved). In the postoperative wide angle color photograph, the vitreous hemorrhage has resolved and the new vessels have regressed, leaving a gliotic frond at the blue arrow. Hemoglobin SC is associated with retinal new vessels more often than hemoglobin SS.