Clinical use of pentoxifylline in haemorrhagic disorders of the retina.

The clinical effect of pentoxifylline, given orally at doses of 300 mg to 600 mg for 3 months, was studied in 20 patients (23 eyes) with retinal haemorrhage caused by disturbances of retinal circulation, i.e. branch and/or total obstruction of the central retinal vein, obstruction of the central retinal artery, diabetic retinopathy and polycytaemic retinopathy. Twenty-two similar patients (27 eyes) formed a control group and were treated primarily with conventional fibrinolytic agents only. It was found that in the group treated with pentoxifylline, there was significantly earlier absorption of the haemorrhage and significantly less appearance of neovascularization. In some cases, prominent improvement of the arm-to-retina circulation time and a marked decrease in avascular areas were obtained. The difference in the improvement of visual acuity between the group treated with pentoxifylline and controls was less pronounced. Screening tests for haemorrhagic disorders were carried out in the group treated with pentoxifylline before and after administration. No side-effects causing haemorrhagic disorders were found. These results suggest that pentoxifylline is effective in preventing retinal or intra-vitreal neovascularization caused by retinal ischaemia and in hastening recovery from these diseases.