Bilateral cotton wool spots after use of an endothelin receptor antagonist

Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2014 Mar-Apr;45(2):156-9. doi: 10.3928/23258160-20140124-01. Epub 2014 Jan 23.

Abstract

Ambrisentan (Letairis; Gilead Sciences, Foster City, CA) is an endothelin receptor antagonist approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of pulmonary arterial hypertension. The authors describe the occurrence of bilateral cotton wool spots soon after initiation of ambrisentan treatment in a 29-year-old woman. Fluorescein angiography, optical coherence tomography, and fundus autofluorescence were performed. After discontinuation of ambrisentan, the cotton wool spots resolved without recurrence. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first report of retinopathy in the form of cotton wool spots associated with the use of an endothelin receptor antagonist.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Antihypertensive Agents / adverse effects*
  • Antihypertensive Agents / therapeutic use
  • Endothelin A Receptor Antagonists*
  • Familial Primary Pulmonary Hypertension
  • Female
  • Fluorescein Angiography
  • Humans
  • Hypertension, Pulmonary / drug therapy
  • Optical Imaging
  • Phenylpropionates / adverse effects*
  • Phenylpropionates / therapeutic use
  • Pyridazines / adverse effects*
  • Pyridazines / therapeutic use
  • Retinal Diseases / chemically induced*
  • Retinal Diseases / diagnosis
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence
  • Visual Acuity / physiology

Substances

  • Antihypertensive Agents
  • Endothelin A Receptor Antagonists
  • Phenylpropionates
  • Pyridazines
  • ambrisentan