Ocular toxicity from high-dose cytosine arabinoside. Cancer 1983 Feb 01;51(3):430-2
Date
02/01/1983Pubmed ID
6571799DOI
10.1002/1097-0142(19830201)51:3<430::aid-cncr2820510313>3.0.co;2-5Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0020663573 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 60 CitationsAbstract
A patient with refractory acute myelogenous leukemia was treated with high-dose cytosine arabinoside (3.0 g/m2 every 12 hours). Following ten doses over five days the patient developed excessive tearing, photophobia, burning ocular pain, and blurred vision. Ophthalmologic examination revealed conjunctival injection, central punctate corneal opacities with subepithelial granular deposits, and decreased visual acuity. Symptoms gradually resolved over the following four days; however, impaired visual acuity persisted for two weeks and corneal opacification did not disappear until four weeks following therapy. Prior and subsequent administration of cytosine arabinoside according to the same dose schedule for only four doses over two days and eight doses over four days were well tolerated and did not produce ocular toxicity. It is suggested that ocular toxicity results from inhibition of corneal epithelial DNA synthesis and is related to both drug dosage and duration of drug exposure. Strategies should be explored to eliminate this treatment-limiting adverse effect of potentially effective therapy.
Author List
Ritch PS, Hansen RM, Heuer DKAuthor
Dale Heuer MD Emeritus Professor in the Ophthalmology department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
CorneaCorneal Opacity
Cytarabine
DNA
Drug Administration Schedule
Eye Diseases
Female
Humans
Leukemia, Myeloid, Acute
Middle Aged
Visual Acuity
