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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Endobronchial Ultrasound-guided Intratumoral Injection of Cisplatin for the Treatment of Isolated Mediastinal Recurrence of Lung Cancer
Published on: February 12, 2017
Bilateral blindness and lumbosacral myelopathy associated with high-dose carmustine and cisplatin therapy
M Y Wang1, A C Arnold, H V Vinters
1Jules Stein Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Purpose:
To report the early ocular pathologic findings associated with high-dose carmustine and cisplatin therapy.
Methods:
A patient with metastatic breast carcinoma developed an acute onset of branch retinal artery occlusion, bilateral blindness, and a myelopathy involving the lower extremities after high-dose chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant.
Results:
Histopathologic examination of the eye and optic nerves at autopsy disclosed nerve fiber layer infarction secondary to right inferior temporal retinal artery thrombosis. Patchy necrosis of both optic nerves, medulla oblongata, and spinal cord was associated with focal small-vessel thrombosis.
Conclusions:
The syndrome of retinal vascular occlusion, optic neuropathy, and myelopathy is associated with the high-dose chemotherapeutic agents carmustine and cisplatin. The distribution of necrosis suggests an ischemic event rather than direct neurotoxic effects.

