Paradoxical Trichomegaly of the Eyelashes During Treatment with EGFR Inhibitors: 2 Case Report

Kun Hoo Na; Young Sub Eom; Su Yeon Kang; Hyo Myung Kim; Jong Suk Song

doi:10.3341/jkos.2014.55.6.908

Journal List > J Korean Ophthalmol Soc > v.55(6) > 1010001

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Na, Eom, Kang, Kim, and Song: Paradoxical Trichomegaly of the Eyelashes During Treatment with EGFR Inhibitors: 2 Case Report

Case Report

J Korean Ophthalmol Soc 2014;55(6):908-912.

Published online: 30 August 2014

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3341/jkos.2014.55.6.908

Paradoxical Trichomegaly of the Eyelashes During Treatment with EGFR Inhibitors: 2 Case Report

Kun Hoo Na, MD, Young Sub Eom, MD, Su Yeon Kang, MD, Hyo Myung Kim, MD, PhD, Jong Suk Song, MD, PhD

Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Address reprint requests to Jong Suk Song, MD, PhD, Department of Ophthalmology, Korea University Guro Hospital, #148 Gurodong-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul 152-703, Korea, Tel: 82-2-2626-3178, Fax: 82-2-857-8580, E-mail: crisim@korea.ac.kr

Received 3 January 2014 Revised 25 April 2014 Accepted 1 May 2014

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Purpose

To introduce 2 cases of trichomegaly associated with the use of systemic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in-hibitors for the treatment of lung cancer.

Case summary

An 82-year-old female visited our clinic for ocular pain in both eyes. She was suffering from metastatic lung can-cer and was under daily treatment with gefitinib (Iressa®, AstraZeneca, London, UK) for 6 months. On ophthalmologic examination, she presented with abnormally elongated eyelashes, hyperemic conjunctiva and dense corneal erosion. A 52-year-old male who was diagnosed with non-small cell lung cancer 7 months before and treated with erlotinib (Tarceva® OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Melville, NY, USA) was referred to our clinic for injection and foreign body sensation in both eyes. Although there were no remarkable changes in eyelashes at the initial visit, long, curly, uneven eyelashes were observed after 3 months.

Conclusions

Due to the increased use of EGFR inhibitors in anti-cancer treatment, ophthalmologists should be aware of these chemotherapeutics’ adverse effects.

Keywords: Epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitor, Trichomegaly

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Figure 1.

(A) Eighty-two-year-old female patient under chemotherapy with gefitinib for metastatic lung cancer shows elongated eye-lashes and blepharitis on the upper and lower lids. (B) The elongation of the eyelashes looks prominent when closing eyes.

Figure 2.

(A) Fifty-two-year-old male patient under chemothrerapy with erlotinib for non-small cell lung cancer shows conjunctival injection and superficial punctate keratitis at the initial visit. (B) After 3 months, curly elongated eyelashes are observed.

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