Ophthalmological lesions after long-term dialysis treatment

In the sphere of dialysis treatment, the questions of adequacy of this form of treatment are receiving increasing attention. One of the criteria for the evaluation of this problem is no doubt the functional and anatomical state of the body. As the eye findings form an integral part of the entire clinical picture, the occurrence of pathological ophthalmologic lesions found after long term dialysis treatment (LTDT) can be used as a criterion of adequacy of the chosen treatment. Eye findings were evaluated in 12 patients with chronic renal insufficiency treated by haemodialysis for at least 10 years. On the external eye segment, most evident were degenerative changes of the pinguecula type, occurring in all patients. In all cases we also observed a massive disturbance of the retinal electrical activity (REA). In 58% of all examined patients we found a peculiar yellow-brownish pigmentation of the eye background. Greater or smaller alterations in the intra-ocular microcirculation in the chorioideal, retinal and papillary circulation regions were proven fluoroangiographically in all patients. In 5 eyes a marked disturbance of central vision was found as a result of pathological changes of the retinal centres or atrophy of the optic nerve. We may sum up that the haemodialysis treatment is yet not able to maintain all functions of the body at a satisfactory level.