[Retinal degeneration and embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the thorax].

We discuss a paraneoplastic retinopathy in a 6-year-old boy who had an embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma of the thorax. Opacities of the vitreous body, optical atrophy, contracted arteries and changes in the structure of the retina--especially the retinal pigment epithelium--characterized the ophthalmological findings. The asymmetrical localization of the changes makes the differential diagnosis of hereditary retinal dystrophies easier. It is probably an immunological disease caused by an antigenic antibody reaction.