Tamoxifen Use in a Patient with Idiopathic Macular Telangiectasia Type 2

Abstract

Crystalline deposits and neurosensory retinal cavitary changes can develop in both tamoxifen retinopathy and nonproliferative idiopathic macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel2). MacTel2 is typically differentiated from tamoxifen retinopathy based on the presence of late leakage and mid-phase telangiectatic vessels on fluorescein angiography (FA) and the presence of hyperautofluorescence. Unlike MacTel2, tamoxifen retinopathy is known to be a progressive disease and the cessation of tamoxifen results in resolution of retinopathy. We report a unique case of nonproliferative MacTel2 in a 36-year-old Hispanic woman with tamoxifen use and the vision outcome 30 months after cessation of tamoxifen. The FA and optical coherence tomography angiography findings of this patient support the diagnosis of MacTel2, but her cessation of tamoxifen led to partial reversal of the topographic findings and improvement in visual acuity. This patient is also unique in the unusually young age of presentation for MacTel2. Our case supports that there are common pathways in the pathogenesis of tamoxifen retinopathy and MacTel2, and tamoxifen use could potentially accelerate foveal atrophy in patients with MacTel2.