[Toxic retinopathy in cyclosporin A therapy]

A bone marrow transplantation was performed in a 17-year-old male patient suffering from acute undifferentiated leukemia. The patient received Cyclosporin A--a powerful immunosuppressive agent--to prevent a severe, chronic graft-versus-host disease. While undergoing this therapy the patient suffered a loss of visual acuity in both eyes 17 months after bone marrow transplantation. The substrates of the visual acuity loss were multiple retinal changes. Cotton-wool spots, intraretinal and preretinal hemorrhages were found in both eyes, and a macula edema in the left eye. The possible role of the immuno-suppressive agent Cyclosporin A in the pathogenesis of these changes is discussed.