Retinopathies of Chronic Glomerulonephritis

Abstract

Renal transplantation is being employed with increasing frequency as a treatment for patients suffering from otherwise terminal renal disease. At the University of Colorado Medical Center and the Denver Veterans Administration Hospital, a number of patients have undergone renal transplantation during the past 2½ years. The ocular disorders in these patients and the changes after renal transplantation have been studied. In a preliminary report Fonken and Ellis found that a reversal of the retinopathy of chronic renal disease occurred following kidney transplantation.¹ This present report deals with the preoperative and postoperative ocular findings in 33 patients who underwent renal transplantation between November 1962 and March 1964. Medical and Surgical Aspects The details of medical and surgical treatment employed in renal transplantation at this institution have been described previously.^2-8 All patients in this series had serious renal failure and had been maintained on medical therapy which included frequent hemodialysis.