View 2019 Abstracts

Haematological malignancies can be associated with orbital involvement and vary in their presentation. It is generally rare for orbital involvement to be the presenting feature of these disorders. Often the orbital signs and symptoms mimic other pathologies, and can lead to delays in diagnosis. Our purpose was to evaluate the presenting clinical features in patients with orbital involvement as the initial pathology leading to a diagnosis of underlying haematological malignancy.

Case analysis of all patients presenting to the Ophthalmology service in two Ophthalmic centres over the last 10 years.

A total of six cases met our original brief. Patients were generally young, and presented with unilateral symptoms and signs. There was often associated strabismus, but vision loss was not common. Patients were commonly treated for infective causes in the community prior to referral into the ophthalmic service, but significant delays in diagnosis were rare. A neoplastic process was suspected very early in most patients once evaluated in the ophthalmic service. Patients mainly had acute myeloid leukaemia, but acute lymphoblastic leukaemia was also present. Associated systemic symptoms were also often present.

Primary orbital involvement in haematological malignancy is rare, and often affects younger patients. It is often unilateral and can have other associated ocular and systemic features. Multidisciplinary care is essential in these patients.