Peripheral Retinal Neovascularization With Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia

Abstract

A 30-year-old Negro man presented with a subhyaloid and vitreous hemorrhage in the left eye. He had chronic myelogenous leukemia of four years' duration but had been untreated for the past year. The peripheral leukocyte count was 250,000/cu mm. Neovascular tufts arose from retinal arteriovenous shunts just anterior to the equator in the superior and temporal quadrants of both eyes. These extended into the vitreous, accompanied by fibrous proliferation. They resembled the proliferative fibrovascular lesions ("sea fans") seen in hemoglobin sickle cell-hemoglobin C retinopathy. This patient's hemoglobin was AA, however. He had no evidence of occlusive vascular disease, and the protein electrophoretic pattern and results of a glucose tolerance test were normal. Retinal neovascularization has not previously been reported as a consequence of leukemia.