Retinal toxicity after intracameral use of a standard dose of cefuroxime during cataract surgery.

PURPOSE: We report the clinical findings and retinal function of a patient who presented retinal toxicity signs after cefuroxime use for a phacoemulsification surgery.

METHODS

A 64-year-old man underwent a technically uneventful left eye cataract surgery. A standard intracameral dose of cefuroxime (0.1 mL of 10.0 mg/mL solution) was administered at the end of the surgery.

RESULTS

At review 2 days later, he complained about left eye visual loss. Fundus examination revealed a diffuse retinal pallor with small intraretinal cysts. Optical coherence tomography scans showed a large retinal serous detachment with a schisis-like appearance of the outer nuclear layer. A slight global retinal dysfunction was recorded on ISCEV full-field electroretinogram. Fast clinical recovery was observed. Optical coherence tomography scans were back to normal within less than a week. Two months later, full-field electroretinogram showed no longer abnormalities.

CONCLUSION

It is the first report to our knowledge of a case of retinal toxicity with a standard dose. Kinetics and studies about cefuroxime toxicity are reviewed and discussed.