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Purpose: Antiretroviral therapy has reduced the morbidity and mortality associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. However, side effects are increasingly recognized, including a commonly reported toxic mitochondrial myopathy. We report such a case of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy in a patient with antiretroviral therapy for HIV infection and speculate on a possible toxic etiologic role in the development of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy by a shared mitochondrial mechanism., Methods: Case Report. Bilateral optic disk abnormalities observed in a 38-year-old HIV positive man with a family history of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy were documented with fundus photography, color vision testing, and visual field testing. Mitochondrial DNA testing was used to confirm the genetic predisposition to Leber hereditary optic neuropathy., Results: Progressive bilateral optic nerve pallor temporally associated with the administration of antiretroviral medication was observed. Diagnostic testing revealed progressive visual field and color vision loss as well as a mitochondrial DNA mutation consistent with Leber hereditary optic neuropathy., Conclusion: Antiretroviral therapy may be associated with the onset of Leber hereditary optic neuropathy in genetically predisposed patients.

Purpose: To report a case of siderosis from a retained intraocular iron foreign body manifesting localized retinal capillary nonperfusion documented by fluorescein angiography., Methods: Case Report. In a 35-year-old man with decreased vision in the left eye, studies included fundus photography, fluorescein angiography, visual field testing, and electrophysiology. Surgical foreign body extraction and histopathologic examination were performed., Results: Preoperatively, in the left eye, humphrey visual fields and electrophysiology testing revealed marked depression. Fluorescein angiography demonstrated nasal capillary nonperfusion with occlusion of the second- and third-order arterioles extending along a gradient from the foreign body. Microscopic examination of the lens capsule confirmed the diagnosis of siderosis secondary to a retained iron foreign body., Conclusion: Extensive capillary nonperfusion may be associated with a retained iron intraocular foreign body, as documented by fluorescein angiography.

Purpose: To determine whether silicone materials used in retinal detachment repair and cataract surgery increase serum IgG binding to silicone and identify correlations with complications of ocular surgery., Methods: Serum from 49 patients who had ocular surgery using silicone materials was examined. Patient groups included scleral buckling (n = 25), silicone oil tamponade (n = 3), scleral buckling and silicone oil tamponade (n = 9), and silicone lens implants after cataract extraction (n = 12). Convalescent samples for all patients and preoperative samples from 19 patients (18 scleral buckling and one silicone oil tamponade) were examined. Postoperative complications were monitored for up to 108 months (mean, 10.7 months; mode, 1.5 months; range, 1 to 108 months). Samples were evaluated for the extent of IgG binding to silicones using a micromodification of a previously described enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method., Results: In 19 patients, IgG binding levels in preoperative samples were 21 arbitrary units (AU) or less. Of the 25 buckling patients, one developed complications; however, in all patients the postoperative levels of IgG binding to silicone were low (2.2 to 20.0 AU). Although four silicone lens patients developed mild complications, none displayed postoperative IgG binding levels of greater than 20 AU. Three patients who underwent both scleral buckling and silicone oil tamponade developed complications; one of these patients, who was also noted to have systemic connective tissue disease, had a significant elevation in postoperative serum IgG binding to silicone., Conclusions: Statistically significant elevations of serum IgG binding to silicone were noted postoperatively in only one patient who had a systemic connective tissue disease. The complication rate and frequency of enhanced serum IgG binding to silicone was low, making correlations to surgical complications difficult. Examination of matched samples suggested that if ocular exposure to silicone implants enhances the level of serum IgG binding to silicones, it must be a rare event that should not alter the clinical use of these important devices.