Sclerouveitis with exudative retinal detachment associated with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia

Abstract

Purpose: To describe a case of sclerouveitis with exudative retinal detachment in a patient with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia. Observations: An 82-year-old woman with chronic myelomonocytic leukemia (CMML) presented with acute painful right eye redness and decreased visual acuity. Examination revealed right eye anterior and posterior scleritis with exudative retinal detachment, as well as 2+ anterior chamber cell in the right eye and 0.5+ in the left eye. Workup was negative for infectious etiologies and chest imaging revealed no pulmonary nodules. She was treated with prednisolone drops and a tapering course of oral prednisone as she started therapy with ruxolitinib for CMML. Inflammation resolved with treatment, and she remained quiet off steroids while on ruxolitinib. Conclusions and importance: This is the first case report to specifically describe sclerouveitis associated with CMML, despite the known association of this cancer with various inflammatory manifestations. This case demonstrates that CMML may present with scleritis and uveitis, and should be considered as the underlying etiology of inflammatory eye disease in patients with a diagnosis of CMML.

Keywords

• Uveitis
• Scleritis
• Chronic myelomonocytic leukemia
• Eye inflammation
• Masquerade