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Blurred Vision After a Kidney Transplant

Educational Objective
Based on this clinical scenario and the accompanying image, understand how to arrive at a correct diagnosis.
1 Credit CME

A patient in their mid-30s with a medical history of deceased donor kidney transplant, cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis, and CMV viremia with documented resistance to foscarnet and ganciclovir (UL97 and UL54 gene mutations) presented with new-onset floaters in both eyes. The patient was taking systemic immunosuppression but recently stopped taking maribavir because of concerns about resistance and was transitioned to cidofovir and CMV immune globulin. On clinical examination, the visual acuity measured 20/25 OD and 20/20 OS. Motility, visual fields, and anterior segment examination were normal. Dilated fundus examination revealed tortuous vasculature, multiple cotton wool spots along the arcades and periphery, and granular, hypopigmented retinal lesions without hemorrhage in the macula and temporal periphery in both eyes (Figure 1A). Optical coherence tomography showed localized areas of full-thickness retinitis (Figure 1B). CMV titers indicated viremia at 2.24 million IU/mL. Despite the patient’s documented UL97 and UL54 mutations, a series of 5 biweekly intravitreal injections of foscarnet and ganciclovir were performed given their vision-threatening lesions. Retinal pathology failed to improve, and the patient eventually refused additional intravitreal therapy because of pain and transiently decreased vision after each injection.

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A patient in their mid-30s with a medical history of deceased donor kidney transplant, cytomegalovirus (CMV) colitis, and CMV viremia with documented resistance to foscarnet and ganciclovir (UL97 and UL54 gene mutations) presented with new-onset floaters in both eyes. The patient was taking systemic immunosuppression but recently stopped taking maribavir because of concerns about resistance and was transitioned to cidofovir and CMV immune globulin. On clinical examination, the visual acuity measured 20/25 OD and 20/20 OS. Motility, visual fields, and anterior segment examination were normal. Dilated fundus examination revealed tortuous vasculature, multiple cotton wool spots along the arcades and periphery, and granular, hypopigmented retinal lesions without hemorrhage in the macula and temporal periphery in both eyes (Figure 1A). Optical coherence tomography showed localized areas of full-thickness retinitis (Figure 1B). CMV titers indicated viremia at 2.24 million IU/mL. Despite the patient’s documented UL97 and UL54 mutations, a series of 5 biweekly intravitreal injections of foscarnet and ganciclovir were performed given their vision-threatening lesions. Retinal pathology failed to improve, and the patient eventually refused additional intravitreal therapy because of pain and transiently decreased vision after each injection.

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Article Information

Corresponding Author: Lauren A. Dalvin, MD, Department of Ophthalmology, Mayo Clinic, 200 1st St SW, Rochester, MN 55905 (dalvin.lauren@mayo.edu).

Published Online: April 6, 2023. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2023.0707

Conflict of Interest Disclosures: Dr Dalvin reported support from the Leonard and Mary Lou Hoeft Career Development Award Fund in Ophthalmology Research and grants from the National Cancer Institute (P30 CA015083) and National Center for Advancing Translational Science (KL2 TR002379). No other disclosures were reported.

Disclaimer: The contents of this article are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

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Credit Designation Statement: The American Medical Association designates this Journal-based CME activity activity for a maximum of 1.00  AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to:

  • 1.00 Medical Knowledge MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine's (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;;
  • 1.00 Self-Assessment points in the American Board of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery’s (ABOHNS) Continuing Certification program;
  • 1.00 MOC points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program;
  • 1.00 Lifelong Learning points in the American Board of Pathology’s (ABPath) Continuing Certification program; and
  • 1.00 credit toward the CME [and Self-Assessment requirements] of the American Board of Surgery’s Continuous Certification program

It is the CME activity provider's responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting MOC credit.

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