Primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) is a rare and aggressive high-grade non-Hodgkin lymphoma. PVRL always with non-specific symptoms and has therefore been called as masquerade syndrome. Thus, the early and correct diagnosis of PVRL is a difficulty. For PVRL, the imaging findings can be specific but variety, histological diagnosis is still the gold standard. Its diagnosis needs to be combined with clinical manifestations, imaging features, pathological diagnosis and molecular biology. With the advancement of technology, especially in the field of the cytokines detection and the gene expression profiling research, molecular biology diagnosis of PVRL is becoming a research hotspot and an important auxiliary diagnostic method.
ObjectiveTo investigate the clinical characteristics, treatment and prognosis of primary vitreoretinal lymphoma (PVRL) diagnosed and treated in our hospital during the past 10 years. MethodsA retrospective clinical study. From 2011 to 2021, 126 eyes of 67 patients with PVRL who were diagnosed and treated in Department of Ophthalmology, Eye-ENT Hospital, Fudan University were included in the study. Among them, there were 23 males (34.3%, 23/67) and 44 females (65.7%, 44/67); the average age was 57.1 years. There were 59 cases with both eyes (88.1%, 59/67) and 8 cases with one eye (11.9%, 8/67). At the initial eye diagnosis, 22 cases had a clear history of primary central nervous system lymphoma (PCNSL); 5 cases were found to have intracranial lesions by head imaging examination; 40 cases had no central nervous system involvement. Twenty cases were treated with glucocorticoids due to misdiagnosed uveitis. All patients received intravitreal injection of methotrexate (IVM) treatment. The treatment regimen was twice a week in the induction period for 2 weeks, once a week in the consolidation period for 1 month, and once a month in the maintenance period. Patients with PCNSL or both eyes received concurrent systemic chemotherapy (chemotherapy), and some in combination with radiation therapy to the brain (radiotherapy). The mean follow-up time was 39.3 months. The clinical manifestations, treatment and prognosis of the patients were retrospectively analyzed. The visual acuity before and after treatment was compared by t test. ResultsAmong the 22 cases with a clear history of PCNSL at the initial eye diagnosis, the average time from intracranial diagnosis to eye diagnosis was 22.9 months. Among the 40 cases without central nervous system involvement at first, 14 cases (20.9%, 14/67) developed central nervous system lesions during follow-up period. The mean time from ocular diagnosis to intracranial diagnosis was 9.9 months. Among the 126 eyes, 42 eyes (33.3%, 42/126) had anterior segment inflammation. vitreous inflammation type, retinal type, and vitreous retinal type were 58 (46.0%, 58/126), 7 (5.6%, 7/126), and 61 (48.4%, 61/126) eyes, and 9 of them (7.1%, 9/126) had optic nerve involvement at the same time. Patients received an average of 12 IVM treatments. IVM combined with systemic chemotherapy in 59 cases (88.1%, 59/67), of which 16 cases were combined with brain radiotherapy. All patients achieved complete remission after completing the treatment cycle (100.0%, 67/67). After treatment, 21 eyes (16.7%, 21/126) had ocular recurrence; 22 (32.8%, 22/67) had intracranial recurrence; 8 cases (11.9%, 8/67) died. The mean progression-free survival of patients was 23.7 months; the mean survival time was 43.6 months; the 5-year overall survival rate was 72.5%. ConclusionsThe manifestations of PVRL are complex and diverse, and most of them are accompanied by involvement of the central nervous system. It can be divided into vitreitis type, retinal type and vitreoretinal type, and the optic nerve can be involved at the same time; IVM combined with systemic treatment can completely relieve the disease.