Unilateral serous retinal detachment with choroidal thickening as a first presenting sign of acute myeloid leukemia

Serous retinal detachment is rare in leukemia, but bilateral or unilateral cases have been reported as the presenting sign of acute leukemia or the first sign of relapsing leukemia. We here report a case of unilateral serous retinal detachment with choroidal thickening before the detection of atypical lymphocytes or myeloblasts as the initial manifestation of subsequently diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia.

A 43-year-old woman presented with serous retinal detachment in her left eye. Choroidal thickening was also revealed by B-scan ultrasonography and optical coherence tomography. Atypical lymphocytes or myeloblasts were not apparent on hematologic analysis at initial presentation, but an increased leukocyte count and the presence of 40% blasts in a peripheral smear were detected 1 month later. A bone marrow biopsy led to a diagnosis of acute promyelocytic leukemia. The retinal detachment and choroidal thickening showed amelioration 4 days after the onset of chemotherapy and had resolved 2 months later.

The present findings suggest that, although retinal detachment is not a common manifestation in patients with leukemia, unilateral serous retinal detachment with choroidal thickening may be a presenting sign of acute myeloid leukemia.