Retinal findings in adult leukaemia: correlation with leukocytosis

The associations between retinal findings and haematological parameters in acute leukaemia are controversial. Sixty-three newly-diagnosed acute leukaemia patients, aged 12-77 years, were studied prospectively for the presence of intra-retinal haemorrhages (IRH), white-centred haemorrhages (WCH), cotton wool spots (CWS) and macular haemorrhages (MH), Thirty-three patients (52.4%) showed at least one retinal abnormality. The prevalence of individual findings was: IRH (30 cases), WCH (20 cases), CWS (5 cases), MH (11 cases). In contrast to previous studies, there was no association between any of these retinal findings and the haemoglobin level or the platelet count. There was a higher median WBC in patients with IRH (68 x 10(9)/l) than in those without IRH (15.4 x 10(9)/l), P = 0.037. When the acute myeloblastic leukaemia cases were considered separately, an association was also found between higher WBC and the presence of WCH and CWS. There was no association between retinal findings and FAB type in the AML cases. We conclude that a high WBC may be at least as important as anaemia and thrombocytopenia in the pathogenesis of the retinopathy of acute leukaemia.