Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Case Reports
. 2011 Feb;25(1):69-71.
doi: 10.3341/kjo.2011.25.1.69. Epub 2011 Jan 17.

Maculopathy associated with tacrolimus (FK 506)

Taehyuk Koh  1 , Seung-Hee Baek, Jung Il Han, Ungsoo Samuel Kim
Affiliations
Case Reports

Maculopathy associated with tacrolimus (FK 506)

Taehyuk Koh et al. Korean J Ophthalmol. 2011 Feb.

Abstract

A 63-year-old man with a history of liver transplantation presented to our clinic complaining of visual disturbance. He had been receiving tacrolimus (FK 506) for 30 months (6 mg/day for 2 years and 3 mg/day for 6 months); he reported that the visual disturbance began while taking tacrolimus. A full ophthalmologic examination and electrophysiologic and imaging studies were performed. The best corrected visual acuity was 0.1 in both eyes. There were no abnormal finding in the anterior segment, pupillary reflexes were normal and, there was no swelling in either optic disc. Although the foveal reflex was slightly decreased, fluorescein angiography revealed non-specific signs, with the exception of a window defect. A multifocal electro-retinogram revealed decreased amplitude of the central ring. A Swedish interactive threshold algorithm-standard 10-2 visual field test revealed a central scotoma. These findings suggest that tacrolimus may result in maculopathy. Therefore, careful ophthalmologic examination is necessary in the patients taking tacrolimus.

Keywords: Maculopathy; Optic neuropathy; Tacrolimus; Transplantation; Visual field.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Fundus photography and fluorescein angiography revealed non-specific findings in both eyes.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Optical coherence tomography of the macular area revealed no definite abnormal findings.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
The multifocal electroretinogram demonstrated foveal suppression in both eyes (A,B). A central scotoma was noted on central 10-2 threshold visual field testing (C,D). MD=mean deviation; PSD=pattern standard deviation.
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Visual evoked potential (VEP) revealed P100 delay in both eyes.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Brazis PW, Spivey JR, Bolling JP, Steers JL. A case of bilateral optic neuropathy in a patient on tacrolimus (FK506) therapy after liver transplantation. Am J Ophthalmol. 2000;129:536–538. - PubMed
    1. Steg RE, Kessinger A, Wszolek ZK. Cortical blindness and seizures in a patient receiving FK506 after bone marrow transplantation. Bone Marrow Transplant. 1999;23:959–962. - PubMed
    1. Kessler L, Lucescu C, Pinget M, et al. Tacrolimus-associated optic neuropathy after pancreatic islet transplantation using a sirolimus/tacrolimus immunosuppressive regimen. Transplantation. 2006;81:636–637. - PubMed
    1. Galor A, Ference SJ, Singh AD, et al. Maculopathy as a complication of blood-brain barrier disruption in patients with central nervous system lymphoma. Am J Ophthalmol. 2007;144:45–49. - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources