Intraocular sarcoid-like reaction in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the frequency and clinical features of intraocular paraneoplastic sarcoid-like reaction (SLR) in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

METHODS: Retrospective review of patients with CLL from January 1, 1980, to December 31, 2020. Eye examinations were searched for 22 keywords suggestive of SLR, and charts were manually reviewed.

RESULTS: Of 4209 unique patients with CLL, 1021 (24%) had at least 1 eye examination on record, and 324 (8%) had 1 or more keyword eye examination findings. After manual review, 12 patients (<1%) were identified as having probable SLR with characteristic features (n = 7), possible but not classic (n = 1), or suspect but less likely (n = 4). All patients (n = 8) with probable or possible SLR were White, and half (n = 4) were male. Intraocular SLR was diagnosed a mean of 49.7 months after the CLL diagnosis (n = 7) or preceded the CLL diagnosis by 1 month (n = 1). Involvement was bilateral in 5 patients, with 13 total affected eyes and mean presenting Snellen visual acuity of 20/50. Common characteristic features on initial examination included vitreous cell (n = 13), anterior-chamber cell (n = 10), keratic precipitates (n = 9), posterior synechiae (n = 6), chorioretinal lesions (n = 5), and vitreous haze (n = 5). Treatment included topical corticosteroids alone (n = 5), with sub-Tenon corticosteroids (n = 1), or with steroid-sparing immunosuppressive agents (n = 1) or oral corticosteroids alone (n = 1). After a mean follow-up of 19.8 months, final mean visual acuity was 20/30.

CONCLUSION: Intraocular SLRs affect fewer than 1% of patients with CLL. SLR should be on the differential diagnosis list for any CLL patient with ocular complaints, and most patients can be managed successfully with corticosteroids.