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Updated: Apr 21, 2026
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Published on: August 4, 2011
Pediatric nasopharyngeal carcinoma with retinal metastasis
Armando Alegret1, Colleen M Cebulla, Sander R Dubovy
1From Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, and the Florida Lions Ocular Pathology Laboratory, Miami, Florida.
Purpose:
To report an unusual case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) metastatic to the lungs and retina. To our knowledge, this is the first report of retinal metastasis from NPC.
Design:
Observational case report.
Methods:
We studied the case of a 15-year-old boy who had been recently diagnosed with metastatic NPC and was referred for evaluation of a suspicious retinal lesion in the right eye.
Results:
Clinical examination and fundus photography showed an amelanotic, 1-disk-area infiltration in the retina along the inferotemporal arcade that was suggestive of metastatic disease. The lesion was small and irregularly shaped by echographic examination, and a nodular area of retinal thickening was seen by optical coherence tomography. Pathologic analysis of lung biopsy and nasopharynx biopsy specimens revealed undifferentiated NPC.
Conclusions:
Retinal metastases need to be considered in the differential diagnosis of patients presenting with NPC and vision changes.
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