Case of metastatic intraocular malignant lymphoma with neovascular glaucoma

BACKGROUND: It is relatively rare to encounter a case of neovascular glaucoma induced by malignant lymphoma metastasized into the eyeball. CASE: A 79-year-old woman initially visited our ophthalmology clinic with the chief complaint of blurring of vision in the left eye which was affected by neovascular glaucoma. She had a history of systemic malignant lymphoma, first diagnosed from skin biopsy and treated to complete remission 3 years previously. A metastatic brain lesion, detected 2 months before her initial visit to our clinic, was cured by radiotherapy. FINDINGS: By ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM) we detected abnormal thickening of the temporal half of the ciliary body of her left eye. Cytological examination of the aqueous humor revealed invasion by malignant cells of presumed lymphocyte origin. Radiation therapy to the left eye normalized the intraocular pressure in a week, followed by a reduction in the neovascularization of the iris and the thickening of the ciliary body. CONCLUSION: This case showed that metastatic malignant lymphoma in the eye could result in neovascular glaucoma and that UBM is useful to detect and to observe lesions in the iris and ciliary body.