Early-stage corneal toxicity secondary to high-dose systemic cytarabine: a case report.

BMC Ophthalmol

Department of Ophthalmology, Kanazawa Medical University, 1-1 Daigaku, Uchinada, Kahoku, Ishikawa 920-0293, Japan.

Published: March 2023

AI Article Synopsis

  • High-dose systemic cytarabine chemotherapy can lead to corneal microcysts and opacities, with symptoms like blurred vision and photophobia appearing around 7 days into treatment.
  • A case study of a 35-year-old woman showed that microcysts initially appeared scattered and became more concentrated in the corneal center before gradually disappearing, especially with steroid treatment.
  • The findings suggest that early detection of microcyst changes is crucial for timely intervention and management of symptoms during chemotherapy.

Article Abstract

Background: High-dose systemic cytarabine chemotherapy may cause fine corneal opacities and refractile microcysts, which are densely distributed in the center of the cornea. Most previous case reports on microcysts have been those following complaints of subjective symptoms, and the findings at the initial stage of development and time-course changes are still unknown. This report aims to clarify the time-course changes of microcysts using slit-lamp photomicrographs.

Case Presentation: A 35-year-old woman who was treated with high-dose systemic cytarabine therapy (3 courses of 2 g/m every 12 h for 5 days) for acute myeloid leukemia and presented with subjective symptoms, such as bilateral conjunctival injection, photophobia, and blurred vision, on the 7 day of treatment in both the first two courses. Anterior segment findings by slit-lamp microscopy revealed microcysts densely distributed in the central region of the corneal epithelium. In both courses, microcysts disappeared within 2-3 weeks upon prophylactic steroid instillation. In the 3 course, daily ophthalmic examinations were conducted from the start of the treatment, and on the 5 day without subjective symptoms, the microcysts in the corneal epithelium appeared evenly and sparsely distributed throughout the cornea except for the corneal limbus. Thereafter, the microcysts accumulated towards the center of the cornea and disappeared gradually. The change from low-dose to full-strength steroid instillation immediately following the occurrence of microcysts in the 3 course resulted in the peak finding being the mildest compared to that in the past two courses.

Conclusions: Our case report revealed that microcysts appeared scattered throughout the cornea before the appearance of subjective symptoms and then accumulated in the center and disappeared. A detailed examination is necessary to detect early changes in microcyst development resulting in prompt and appropriate treatment.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9987088PMC
http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12886-023-02834-3DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

subjective symptoms
16
high-dose systemic
12
systemic cytarabine
12
microcysts
9
case report
8
microcysts densely
8
densely distributed
8
center cornea
8
time-course changes
8
revealed microcysts
8

Similar Publications

Cognitive impairment in patients with COVID-19 has been reported, but findings are inconsistent. This study assessed cognitive functioning 6 months post-infection across three COVID-19 severity groups compared to non-COVID controls. Seventy-two ICU-treated, 49 ward-treated, and 44 home-isolated patients with COVID-19, along with 48 controls, underwent neuropsychological evaluation and assessment of subjective cognitive symptoms, depressive symptoms, and fatigue.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Low-dose amitriptyline, a tricyclic antidepressant (TCA), was superior to placebo for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) in the AmitripTyline at Low-dose ANd Titrated for Irritable bowel syndrome as Second-line treatment (ATLANTIS) trial.

Objective: To perform post hoc analyses of ATLANTIS for predictors of response to, and tolerability of, a TCA.

Design: ATLANTIS randomised 463 adults with IBS to amitriptyline (232) or placebo (231).

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Basal forebrain global functional connectivity is preserved in asymptomatic presenilin-1 E280A mutation carriers: Results from the Colombia cohort.

J Prev Alzheimers Dis

February 2025

Department of Psychosomatic Medicine, University Medicine Rostock, Rostock, Germany; Deutsches Zentrum für Neurodegenerative Erkrankungen (DZNE), Greifswald, Rostock, Germany.

Background: Imaging studies showed early atrophy of the cholinergic basal forebrain in prodromal sporadic Alzheimer's disease and reduced posterior basal forebrain functional connectivity in amyloid positive individuals with subjective cognitive decline. Similar investigations in familial cases of Alzheimer's disease are still lacking.

Objectives: To test whether presenilin-1 E280A mutation carriers have reduced basal forebrain functional connectivity and whether this is linked to amyloid pathology.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Increased emotional reactivity to stress, emotional dysregulation and sleep disturbances are interdependent trans-diagnostic processes that are present in internalising disorders such as depression and anxiety disorders. This study investigated which objective and subjective parameters of stress reactivity, sleep and emotional processing would predict symptoms of anxiety and depression in adolescents and young adults.

Methods: Participants were adolescents and young adults between the ages of 14 to 21 (N = 106, 25[24 %] male, M age = 17.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Grandparental childcare and subjective well-being: The role of activities and reasons for care.

Soc Sci Med

January 2025

Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, 1-19 Torrington Place, 355a, London, WC1E 7HB, UK.

Despite extensive research on the impact of grandchild care on grandparents' well-being, no studies have examined the frequency of activities that grandparents engage in with their grandchildren or the reasons for care using nationally representative data. We address this gap using waves 8 (2016/2017) and 9 (2018/19) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing, a nationally representative study of English older adults. We employ hybrid regression models to distinguish between within- and between-individual effects on grandparents' subjective wellbeing, as captured by quality of life and depressive symptoms.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!