Bilateral methamphetamine-induced ischemic retinopathy

To describe the multimodal imaging and treatment of a 37-year-old male presenting with bilateral ischemic retinopathy induced by methamphetamine abuse.

A 37-year-old male presented with progressively deteriorating vision and was found to have branch retinal artery occlusion and central retinal vein occlusion in both eyes along with secondary vitreous hemorrhage in the left eye following seven years of intermittent intranasal methamphetamine abuse. Fundus fluorescein angiography and optical coherence tomography angiography revealed large areas of non-perfusion in the peripheral retina along with peripapillary neovascularization. Systemic evaluation revealed ischemic foci scattered in the deep brain on magnetic resonance angiography scanning. Based on the retinal findings, the patient was diagnosed with methamphetamine-induced ischemic retinopathy. He received panretinal photocoagulation, which improved the vision in the right eye and vitreous hemorrhage in the left eye. The vision in the left eye remained stable.

This case highlights that intranasal methamphetamine abuse is associated with bilateral simultaneous central retinal vein occlusion and branch retinal artery occlusion. To our knowledge, extensive bilateral ischemic retinopathy has not been documented previously with newer modalities. In addition, PRP may be considered for the treatment of ischemic retinopathy induced by methamphetamine abuse.