Ocular Disorders in Renal Transplant Patients

Purpose: To determine ocular findings in patients with renal transplants and tocorrelate them with clinical characteristics related to transplantation.Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 150 patients who had received arenal transplant of at least three months f duration with serum creatinine levels 3mg/dl. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination. Clinicalvariables related to the transplant included cause of renal failure, duration ofhemodialysis prior to transplantation and immunosuppressive regimen.Results: Overall, 91 male and 59 female subjects with mean age of 39 ±17.7 years wereincluded. At least one ocular abnormality could be detected in 89.3% including visualacuity .20/25 (48.6%), conjunctival degeneration in the palpebral fissure (36.6%),posterior subcapsular cataracts (24%), pinguecula (17.3%), retinal pigment epitheliopathy(14%), arteriovenous crossing changes (8.6%), proliferative diabetic retinopathy(6%), central serous chorioretinopathy and retinal vein occlusions (each in 3.3%), andnon-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve atrophy and diabetic macular edema(each in 2.7%). Abnormal ocular findings were not correlated with the underlying renaldisorder or use of cyclosporine and prednisolone, however they were positivelycorrelated with transplant duration, pre-transplant dialysis duration and azathioprineor mycophenolate mofetil consumption.Conclusion: Ocular disorders are frequent among renal transplant patients especiallywith older transplants and those with a longer period of pre-transplant hemodialysis.