Two Ocular Infections during Conventional Chemotherapy in a Patient with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: A Case Report

• Main Authors: Ruba Taha, Ibrahim Al Hijji, Halima El Omri, Fareed Al-Laftah, Riham Negm, Mohammed Yassin, Hanadi El Ayoubi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Karger Publishers 2010-07-01
• Series: Case Reports in Oncology
• Subjects: Cytomegalovirus retinitis; Acute lymphoblastic leukemia; Chemotherapy; Hyper-CVAD; Candida
• Online Access: http://www.karger.com/Article/FullText/318230

Viral retinitis due to cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is rare in patients with acute leukemia who did not receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. We report a case of CMV retinitis that developed in a 49-year-old patient with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. The patient was treated with salvage chemotherapy using a hyper-CVAD regimen and did not receive hematopoietic stem cell transplantation. The incidence of CMV retinitis in this subgroup of patients is not described in literature. He had a very complicated course during chemotherapy but was successfully treated, with preservation of visual acuity, and to date he is in complete remission. Interestingly, prior to CMV retinitis, the patient had been diagnosed with and treated for candida retinitis. This case shows the importance of eye examination and care in patients diagnosed with hematological malignancies.