ocular disorders in renal transplant patients

propose: to evaluate patients with renal transplantation for abnormal ocular findings and to determine the association of these findings with pretreatment dialysis duration, immunosuppressive regimen and underlying disease causing renal failure. methods: this cross-sectional study was performed on 150 patients who had undergone kidney transplantation for at least three months and with serum creatinin < 3 mg/dl. all patients underwent ophthalmologic examination including visual acuity, slit lamp biomicroscopy and dilated funduscopy. results: this study included 91 male and 59 female subjects with mean age of 39 years. no abnormal ocular findings was found in 10.7%; there was at least one ocular disorder in 89.3% including visual acuity ≤ 20/25 (48.6%), conjunctival degeneration in the palpebral fissure (36.6%), posterior subcapsular cataracts (24%), pinguecula (17.3%), pigmentary retinal epitheliopthy (14%), arteriovenous crossing changes (8.6%), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (6%), central serous chorioretinopathy and retinal vein occlusion (each in 3.3%) and non-proliferative diabetic retinopathy, optic nerve atrophy and significant macular edema due to diabetes (each in 2.7%). abnormal ocular findings had no correlation with underlying disease and cyclosporine or prednisolone usage but significantly increased with increase in transplant duration, pre-transplantation dialysis duration and azathioprine or mycophenolate mofetil consumption. conclusion: ophthalmic disorders are frequent in renal transplant patients, therefore periodic ophthalmic evaluation is strongly recommended.