Visual disturbance as initial presentation of hairy cell leukemia

CHARALEL, RESMI A.
JAIN, ATUL K.
RACHAKONDA, LEELANAND P.
GAYNON, MICHAEL W.

Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA - USA

Accepted: September 8, 2008

No author has any proprietary interest. There are no grants or funds in support of the study. A.K. Jain, MD, received the HEED Ophthalmic Fellowship 2008-2009.

Reprint requests to: Michael Gaynon, MD Palo Alto Medical Clinic 795 El Camino Real Palo Alto, CA 94301, USA [email protected]

European Journal of Ophthalmology 19(2):p 318-320, March-April 2009.

Purpose.

Hairy cell leukemia (HCL) is a rare disorder that occasionally has visual symptoms after diagnosis. The authors present a case of HCL in which bilateral visual symptoms led to the initial diagnosis.

Methods.

Observational case report.

Results.

Bilateral decreased vision to 20/30 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left due to intraretinal and preretinal hemorrhages with no other systemic signs or symptoms prompted a hematologic evaluation in which HCL was found to be the causative disorder in a previously healthy 41-year-old man.

Conclusions.

The authors present a rare case in which bilateral visual complaints led to the diagnosis of HCL. Thus, though uncommon, HCL should be considered in the differential diagnosis of otherwise unexplained retinal hemorrhages. (Eur J Ophthalmol 2009; 19: 318-20)