Photo Credit: Soleg

Ophthalmologic manifestations of acute leukemia are heterogeneous and detectable at initial presentation or relapse, according to a study published in the Annals of Hematology. Investigators examined the incidence of different ophthalmological manifestations in newly diagnosed acute leukemia in a cross-sectional study of 144 patients with newly diagnosed acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and 78 patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) between January 2022 and February 2023. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic evaluation. The researchers found ophthalmic manifestations in 43.2% of patients. Of these, 1.8% had poor visual acuity. The most common ocular manifestations were retinal hemorrhage and Roth spots (19.8% and 17.1%, respectively). Other ophthalmologic manifestations included orbital involvement (3.2%), ocular motility issues (1.4%), subconjunctival hemorrhage (5.9%), conjunctival chemosis (0.9%), and lid swelling (4.1%). Compared with patients with ALL, those with AML had a significantly higher frequency of ocular affection, retinal hemorrhages, and Roth spots. The researchers found a significant association between retinal hemorrhage and anemia.