A 23‑year‑old man with a history of alcoholism presented with vomiting, fever, and sharp epigastric pain radiating to the back and flanks. He was diagnosed as a case of acute alcoholic pancreatitis on the basis of clinical findings and investigations. On the next day of presentation, he developed sudden bilateral visual loss. His best‑corrected visual acuity was finger counting at one‑foot distance in both eyes. He had diffuse whitening in the circumpapillary area, haloes around the retinal vessels (Purtscher flecken) and intra‑retinal hemorrhages on ophthalmoscopic examination. Optical coherence tomography revealed bilateral macular edema. These findings were characteristic of Purtscher‑like retinopathy. The patient showed systemic and visual improvement at 8 weeks follow‑up after receiving the conventional treatment for acute alcoholic pancreatitis. This case emphasizes the importance of fundus examination by an ophthalmologist in the diagnosis of this rare under‑diagnosed entity.

A 23‑year‑old man with a history of alcoholism presented with vomiting, fever, and sharp epigastric pain radiating to the back and flanks. He was diagnosed as a case of acute alcoholic pancreatitis on the basis of clinical findings and investigations. On the next day of presentation, he develop...