Exophthalmos and ocular pain as clinical debut of intracranial Hodgkin's lymphoma at diagnosis

Intracranial involvement in Hodgkin's Lymphoma (HL) is extremely unusual, especially at the time of diagnosis. Because of its non-specific radiological behaviour, it can be confused with more common entities with a radically different prognosis. Pathologically, large and bi-nucleated cells, called Reed-Sternberg cells, embedded in an inflammatory network. In this report we describe the clinical case of a patient, with no medical history, with left ocular pain and exophthalmos as presetation of intracranial HL at diagnosis and review the most current literature. Intracranial involvement is often associated with extracranial disease. Therefore, a systemic study including body computed tomography, bone marrow biopsy and ophthalmological evaluation is necessary. Intracranial lesions respond favourably to treatment and the prognosis depends on the extracranial involvement. To date, there is no standardised management scheme for these patients. For us, the primary role of surgery in this context is to perform a biopsy to confirm the histological diagnosis.

Retrobulbar chlorpromazine in management of painful eye in blind or low vision patients

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the results of applying retrobulbar chlorpromazine in the management of patients with painful blind eyes or with very poor vision.

METHODS

A retrospective, descriptive review was carried out on the medical records of 33 patients who were treated with a retrobulbar injection of chlorpromazine (25mg) for the management of painful blind eyes in Centro Oftalmológico Virgilio Galvis.

RESULTS

Pain control was achieved in 90% of cases (with mean follow-up of 2.1 years). The mean intraocular pressure decreased by 37%. In 7 out of 12 eyes that maintained residual vision, loss of some degree of vision was acknowledged. One patient required an additional cyclodestructive procedure, another one required an absolute alcohol injection, and in an additional case evisceration surgery was necessary to achieve pain control. No serious complications were noted with this therapy.

CONCLUSIONS

Retrobulbar injection of chlorpromazine is a valid option in painful, blind eye cases (or with very poor vision) with a poor visual prognosis.