Abstract
Purpose:
Because of the epidemic of Human T cell leukemia/lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) in southern Japan (antibody prevalence 6%), the clinical characteristics of intraocular lymphoma in southern Japan differ from those in other areas. The purpose of this study was to find the clinical features of patients diagnosed with intraocular lymphoma in an academic referral hospital in southern Japan.
Methods:
The Kagoshima University Hospital is located in Kagoshima, the southernmost prefecture of main-islands of Japan, which covers 1.7 million of populations. We reviewed the medical records of patients with intraocular lymphoma diagnosed and treated at the Kagoshima University Hospital from 2000 to 2011.
Results:
During the study period, 26 cases, 10 men and 16 women, were diagnosed with intraocular lymphoma. The mean age at presentation was 64.2 years. Follow-up period ranged from 1 month to 10 years with a median of 19 months. Eight patients had lymphoma in an unilateral eye and 18 had bilateral eyes final examination at the time. The most frequent symptom was visual disturbance or blurred vision. On ophthalmological check-ups, the most common sign was vitreous opacity. Ocular disease concurrent with central nervous system (CNS) lymphoma was observed in 73.0%, while the localized ocular disease was found in 7.7% of the patients. Intraocular lymphoma occurred as the primary lymphoma in 57.7%, and as ocular relapse of the primary CNS lymphoma in 15.4% the cases. The 5-year survival rate was 60.2%. A positive serological test for HTLV-1 was found only in 2 cases.
Conclusions:
The bilateral onset, elderly female and vitreous infiltration were common characteristics of intraocular lymphoma in southern Japan. Intraocular lymphoma with no systemic involvement was rare. Despite its high epidemic, HTLV-1 was associated with uveitis, but not intraocular lymphoma.
Keywords: 624 oncology •
745 uvea