Cancer-Associated Retinopathy and Treatment with Intravenous Immunoglobulin Therapy. A Seldom Used Approach?

ABSTRACT

Purpose: To report a case of cancer-associated retinophaty (CAR) treated with intravenous immunoglobulin (IGIV) and review the use of IGIV in the treatment of CAR

Methods: Case report: A 68-year-old woman, former smoker, presented with bilateral subacute decreased visual acuity with 1 month of evolution, without other symptoms. Clinical examination revealed retinal atrophy and a mild vitritis component. Treatment with corticosteroid and IGIV was initiated empirically with the stabilization of visual loss. Anti-recoverin antibodies tested positive and a small cell lung carcinoma was diagnosed. In a review of the literature, we found that only 12 cases of patients treated with intravenous immunoglobulins have been reported.

Conclusions: the early use of IVIG could contribute to an improvement and/or stabilization of visual symptoms in this patient group due to its rapid effect and lower profile of adverse effects when administered with chemotherapy.

Keywords:

• Cancer associated retinopathy
• immunoglobulin
• paraneoplastic syndrome
• recoverin

Declaration of interest

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the paper.