Tamoxifen retinal toxicity. Monitoring by multimodal imaging study

INTRODUCTION

Tamoxifen is a non-steroidal anti-oestrogen that acts as an antagonist in breast tissue, neurosensory retina, and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). The reported incidence of its ocular effects varies between 0.9% and 11%.

METHODS

Case series. Multimodal image studies were used to evaluate three female patients who were receiving tamoxifen for breast cancer for the purpose of monitoring and determining whether there are changes after discontinuation of treatment.

RESULTS

All three patients showed signs of crystalline retinopathy using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) during follow-up.

CONCLUSION

The follow-up using multimodal imaging studies allowed evaluating the progression of the changes, providing a prognostic assessment. The findings reported (visual acuity and multimodal imaging) confirmed the results of previous studies, indicating that, at a certain level of toxicity, the damage was irreversible.

Retinal toxicity due to canthaxanthin. Case series

INTRODUCTION

Canthaxanthin is a chemical product used to tan the skin. Its most frequent adverse effect is canthaxanthin retinopathy.

PURPOSE/ METHODS

Report, case series.

RESULTS

Two female patients, one 42 years-old and the other 72 years-old, with signs of retinopathy due to canthaxanthin. Complete ophthalmology examinations were carried out. The peripheral fovea birefringent deposits with internal retinal involvement were studied using multimodal imaging.

CONCLUSION

Canthaxanthin retinopathy is rare. Multimodal imaging may provide important data for the differential diagnosis of crystalline retinopathy.

Topical prostaglandin analogues and development of epiretinal membrane

OBJECTIVES

To determine whether patients with glaucoma and epiretinal membrane (ERM) use a greater proportion of prostaglandin analogues (PA) than a control group of patients with glaucoma without ERM.

METHOD

A retrospective study of cases and controls was conducted in order to determine whether patients with glaucoma and ERM used a greater proportion of PA than a control group of patients with glaucoma without ERM. The diagnosis of de ERM was made by clinical examination and optical coherence tomography.

RESULTS

The mean age of the cases was 77 years (SD: 8.68; 95% CI: 74.3-79.4), compared to the controls with 63 years (SD: 16.6; 95% CI: 70.1-78.5). The cases included 50% (n=26) men and 50% women (n=26), whereas in the controls 25.4% (n=16) of the cases were men and 74.6% (n=47) women. PA treatment was used in 59.6% (n=31) and 60.3% (n=38) of the cases and controls, respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in PA use between the 2groups (P=.939).

CONCLUSIONS

In this study, an association between the use of AP and the development of ERM could not be demonstrated.