Retinal hemorrhage – A red flag in detecting chronic myeloid leukemia blast crisis

Abstract

An 18-year-old presented with a diminution of vision and was detected to have a retinal hemorrhage, low hemoglobin, and high blood pressure, with ultrasonography showing splenomegaly, large neck nodes, and finally peripheral smear revealing chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). This rare case of blast crisis was taken care of by imatinib, i.e., BCR-ABL tyrosine kinase protein inhibitor, subsiding of the crisis led to improvement of vision. This case report highlights the rarity of ocular manifestations in CML and the importance of all systemic investigations in the diagnosis of this case.