Ocular Disorders in Renal Transplant Patients

PURPOSE: To determine ocular findings in patients with renal transplants and to correlate them with clinical characteristics related to transplantation. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was performed on 150 patients who had received a renal transplant of at least three months' duration with serum creatinine levels < 3 mg/dl. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmologic examination. Clinical variables related to the transplant included cause of renal failure, duration of hemodialysis prior to transplantation and immunosuppressive regimen. RESULTS: Overall, 91 male and 59 female subjects with mean age of 39±17.7 years were included. At least one ocular abnormality could be detected in 89.3% including visual acuity less than 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%), and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve atrophy and diabetic macular edema (each in 2.7%). Abnormal ocular findings were not correlated with the underlying renal disorder or use of cyclosporine and prednisolone, however they were positively correlated with transplant duration, pre-transplant dialysis duration and azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil consumption. CONCLUSION: Ocular disorders are frequent among renal transplant patients especially with older transplants and those with a longer period of pre-transplant hemodialysis.