Central retinal vein occlusion in a patient with breast carcinoma

Purpose: Systemic malignancies may have ocular manifestations in the form of metastatic tumors, carcinoma associated retinopathy or central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO). Although CRVO has been mentioned in association with renal, lung, prostatic and ovarian malignancies, the association of CRVO with breast carcinoma is unreported. We report a patient with one such rare association. Methods: We describe a patient with breast carcinoma who was diagnosed to have CRVO. The history, ocular examination, retinal optical coherence tomography scan, ocular ultrasound scan, hematological profile, mammogram details and aspiration cytology description of the malignant breast lesion are reported in this article. Results: The retina showed extensive hemorrhages and dilated retinal veins. Complete hematologic evaluation revealed the presence of microcytic hypochromic anemia and increased hematocrit. These changes are possibly related to the malignant disease and might contribute to the pathogenesis of CRVO. Coclusion: This case report demonstrates the rare association between breast malignancy and CRVO.