Menu
Back to Journals » Clinical Ophthalmology » Volume 6
Improvement in ocular cicatricial pemphigoid following treatment for porphyria cutanea tarda
Received 27 June 2012
Accepted for publication 21 August 2012
Published 24 October 2012 Volume 2012:6 Pages 1709—1712
DOI https://doi.org/10.2147/OPTH.S35402
Checked for plagiarism Yes
Review by Single anonymous peer review
Peer reviewer comments 2
R Marshall Ford, Yousuf M Khalifa
David and Ilene Flaum Eye Institute, University of Rochester Medical Center, Rochester, NY, USA
Abstract: A 64-year-old Caucasian male complaining of redness and tearing for 3 years in both eyes was referred for evaluation of cicatricial conjunctivitis. Ocular cicatricial pemphigoid was suspected and this diagnosis was confirmed through biopsy. The patient's condition showed moderate improvement following treatment with methotrexate and mycophenolate mofetil. The patient was later diagnosed with porphyria cutanea tarda and phlebotomy treatments were subsequently initiated. The patient's ocular symptoms improved further after he began receiving these phlebotomy treatments, and conventional treatment was discontinued. The authors hypothesize that circulating porphyrins activated by ultraviolet light could be the cause of the ocular cicatricial pemphigoid in this patient.
Keywords: cicatricial conjunctivitis, phlebotomy treatments, circulating porphyrins, ultraviolet light
© 2012 The Author(s). This work is published and licensed by Dove Medical Press Limited. The full terms of this license are available at https://www.dovepress.com/terms.php and incorporate the Creative Commons Attribution - Non Commercial (unported, v3.0) License.
By accessing the work you hereby accept the Terms. Non-commercial uses of the work are permitted without any further permission from Dove Medical Press Limited, provided the work is properly attributed. For permission for commercial use of this work, please see paragraphs 4.2 and 5 of our Terms.