A 44-year-old obese woman with a medical history of iron-deficiency anemia (pretreatment hemoglobin of 8.8 g/dL) presented with blurred vision in her right eye and new headaches over 1 month. She described the headaches as holocephalic, rated them 4–5 out of 10 (where 1 is minimal intensity and 10 is maximal intensity) without any diurnal or positional variation. She had associated intermittent nausea, but no vomiting. She denied any characteristics consistent with a thunderclap headache. She initially saw her optometrist and was referred to neuro-ophthalmology for bilateral optic disc edema. Examination revealed a visual acuity of 20/30 OD and 20/20 OS, and Humphrey visual field testing showed an enlarged blind spot OD (MD −4.60 dB) and was normal OS (MD −2.10 dB). Slit-lamp examination revealed a posterior subcapsular cataract in the OD and dilated fundus examination showed moderate optic disc edema in both eyes with hemorrhages in all 3 retinal layers in the OD (shown in Fig. ). Her blood pressure was 128/78, and her hemoglobin was found to be 9.0 g/dL with mean corpuscular volume of 70.4 fL. Magnetic resonance imaging/magnetic resonance venography of the head was normal apart from signs of raised ICP, and lumbar puncture showed an opening pressure of 34 cm of water with normal CSF contents. She was started on acetazolamide 500 mg BID and continued her recent supplementation with ferrous fumarate. With significant weight loss, her optic disc edema resolved after 4 months, and she continued to maintain normal visual function. The final Humphrey mean deviation was −2.80 dB OD and −0.72 dB OS.
A 45-year-old woman suffering from intraocular hemorrhage associated with chronic myeloid leukemia complicated by subdural hematoma was referred to our institution. Chronic myeloid leukemia had been diagnosed 10 years earlier and the patient’s comorbidities were treated arterial hypertension, hepatitis B virus positivity, and orally treated type 2 diabetes mellitus diagnosed 3 years earlier. At presentation, she was in blast crisis for the second time and the disease was rapidly progressing. She was hospitalized in the Hematology-Oncology Department, University of Turin, with a very low platelet count (8,000/mm3) and red cell count (2,000 mm3), asthenia, fever, and occipital headache radiating to the anterior parts. A severe subdural hematoma was discovered, with ventricular dilatation and signs of high intracranial pressure. She was treated with repeated platelet transfusions and conservative medical therapy. The patient’s condition improved slowly, with progressive reabsorption of the hematoma and normalization of ventricular morphology on brain computed tomography scan.\nWe followed up this patient for a year by assessment of visual acuity, fundus examination, color retinography, and A-scan and B-scan ultrasonography. The patient complained of visual impairment in the left eye since the onset of her neurological symptoms, and was referred to our clinic. At presentation, her best corrected visual acuity on the right was 20/63 and on the left was 20/320. Retinal examination of the right eye revealed blurring of the optic margins surrounded by retinal and preretinal hemorrhages, preretinal fibrosis starting from the optic disc and extending along the vascular arcades, and perivascular retinal infiltrates (). Massive fibrosis with hard exudates and severe preretinal hemorrhage were observed in the left eye at the posterior pole (). The optic disc was surrounded by retinal and preretinal hemorrhages. Roth spots and many circular and preretinal hemorrhages were noted at the retinal periphery (). The other ocular structures were within normal limits. Ocular tension was good (right, 20 mmHg; left, 17 mmHg).\nA-scan and B-scan ultrasonography showed similar clinical features in both eyes, ie, an anechogenic vitreous cavity, a small increase in the thickness of the chorioretinal complex, and some minute retinal lines with higher reflectivity, likely representing hemorrhages. The patient was monitored for 12 months, with no changes in her clinical and functional characteristics.