Changes in inflammatory blood parameters in patients with radiation-related complications due to radiotherapy for...

Radiation retinopathy is a common cause of visual impairment following ocular radiotherapy, and systemic inflammatory activity may contribute to retinal vascular damage. Understanding inflammatory mechanisms may support earlier identification of patients at risk and improve clinical monitoring strategies.

Radiation retinopathy is a vision-threatening complication of radiotherapy for uveal melanoma and has traditionally been considered a localised microvascular disorder. However, the potential contribution of systemic inflammation to its development remains unclear.

A retrospective review was undertaken of hospital records of patients diagnosed with radiation retinopathy after stereotactic photon radiotherapy for uveal melanoma. Demographic characteristics, tumour features, and systemic inflammatory blood parameters were evaluated before and after the onset of retinopathy.

A total of 97 patients were included, with 52.6% female participants. Most tumours were classified as T1 or T2. The median time to retinopathy diagnosis was 24 months. All systemic inflammatory blood parameters showed significant increases after the development of radiation retinopathy (all p < 0.05).

It is concluded that radiation retinopathy is associated with systemic inflammatory activation, suggesting that inflammatory processes may extend beyond localised retinal injury, and therefore may serve as accessible biomarkers for disease monitoring.