| Abstract: | Between August 1980 and January 1987, 23 patients undergoing treatment for chronic renal failure underwent eye examinations. Hemodialysis and subsequent kidney transplants were performed in 18 patients; in two patients a kidney transplant was performed alone, and in three others hemodialysis without transplant. The interval between dialysis and transplantation averaged 23.1 months, the mean follow-up after transplantation 20 months. Patients who underwent hemodialysis alone were followed up for periods of two, three and 85 months. The patients' ages when hemodialysis treatment was first instituted ranged from six to 17 years (average 11.8 years). The mean age at the time kidney transplants were performed was 13.6 years (ranging from one to 17 years). Seventeen patients had conjunctival and corneal infiltrations in the area of the palpebral fissure. In two cases infiltrations were confined to the conjunctiva. Four patients had no pathologic changes, in either the cornea or the conjunctiva. Slitlamp examination revealed subcapsular losses of lens transparency in eight patients; these losses were manifested by delicate punctiform and patchy configurations. In nine cases fundus ophthalmoscopy revealed constricted retinal arteries. Within the period of observation all but one of the patients had unchanged vision. The one exception (cystinosis) had reduced visual acuity due to an accumulation of crystalline inclusions in the cornea. |
