Retinal Arteries Occlusion in a Young Peritoneal Dialysis Patient

The development of retinal artery occlusion in dialysis patients is an extremely rare occurrence. Occlusion of retinal arteries can occur secondary to a variety of etiologies. There are some clinical conditions associated with retinal artery occlusion such as valvular heart diseases and coagulation disorders. Here we present a young female peritoneal dialysis patient who developed retinal artery occlusion. The Doppler scanning of carotid artery revealed no abnormality. The trans-esophageal cardiography showed no thrombus formation but heavy calcification of mitral valves, which was believed to be the predisposing factor of retinal arteries occlusion. Coagulation disorders and other rare causes were ruled out by clinical findings and laboratory data. Mitral valves calcification was one of the systemic effects of hyperparathyroidism in this patient, which was treated with oral calcitriol and alcohol injection of parathyroid adenoma. In this report, we review the relevant articles and discuss the probable mechanism of retinal arteries occlusion in this patient.