Sudden Blindness Associated with Central Nervous Symptoms in a Hemodialysis Patient

Abstract

Purtscher's-like retinopathy as a cause of sudden blindness in hemodialysis patients is not widely known. This is believed to occur secondary to leukoembolization to retinal arterioles following complement activation. We describe a patient who developed sudden but reversible loss of vision on hemodialysis associated with varying reversible neurological signs and symptoms which we felt may have been a manifestation of leukoembolic aggregates lodging in the arterioles of the retina and central nervous system circulations.