Prolems with retina from triple tx

I had my first follow up appt. with my opthamologist since starting triple tx and he found that I have light sensitivity/blind spot in my right eye.  I'm seeing a retinal specialist on Monday... anybody else have problems with their retina from tx?  I've read that it's possible but there was a low chance... just wondering if anyone on here actually had that problem and any other relevant info... thanks!

[OdinLovesLife]

I don't have experience with this but I am giving you a bump so that it won't be missed. Best wishes.

[frijole]

My hepatologist wanted a retina exam before I started treating.  The retina specialist okayed me for treatment and scheduled another exam for 2 months after I started treatment to check to see if my retina is handling the interferon. I think problems are rare, but if you do have problems you need to get them taken care of aASAP.  This article is pretty good

http://hcvets.com/data/hcv_liver/eyes.htm

Cotton-wool spots were found in 31 patients and retinal hemorrhage in nine patients during treatment (24% of patients). These lesions remained asymptomatic and disappeared in all patients. A previous history of arterial hypertension (RR 4.60, 95% CI 1.95-10.85), age above 45 years (RR 2.80, 95% CI 1.36-5.85), and use of pegylated alpha-interferon (RR 2.75, 95% CI 1.41-5.38) were significantly associated with retinopathy. Neurovisual impairment was present in 31 patients (20%) before treatment and in 74 patients (47%) during treatment.

In studies including a significant number of diabetic patients [5,7] diabetes mellitus has also been associated with retinopathy. Furthermore, improvement of retinopathy is delayed in hypertensive and diabetic patients after ending treatment [7]. This relationship emphasizes that IFN-induced retinopathy can result from physiopathological mechanisms in common with other retinopathies related to microvascular abnormalities.

Conclusions: In conclusion, this study showed that signs of retinopathy and neurovisual impairment were common in patients receiving alpha-interferon therapy but were rarely symptomatic. It suggests that alpha-interferon may usually be continued in asymptomatic patients as long as there is careful fundoscopic examination.

[shanro]

thanks for the information! my opthamologist mentioned he was concerned about possible retinal hemorrhage... on Monday they're going to put a die in my eye to see if this is the case... keeping my fingers crossed that my eye is fine....