Leukemic retinopathy with rare presentation in B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

Abstract

A 14-year-old male presented with blurring of vision, headache, and bilateral serous macular detachment (SMD) with thick choroid without any significant leak on fluorescein angiogram. As the imaging was inconclusive, we advised him thorough systemic evaluation. His platelet count was significantly reduced with a higher percentage of blast cells on peripheral smear. The diagnosis of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia was confirmed by an oncologist on flow cytometry and was immediately started on chemotherapy. After a month, SMD resolved completely with the restoration of visual acuity. This case highlights the role of early diagnosis and urgent treatment before systemic manifestations reducing disease mortality.

Keywords

• acute lymphoblastic leukemia
• enhanced depth imaging
• optical coherence tomography
• serous macular detachment