Clinicopathology of a case with retinopathy of pancreatitis

I read with particular interest the paper of Hollo and Bobek in the June issue of Acta Ophthalmologica (1) and congratulate the authors on giving us the opportunity to study histopathologically a case of retinopathy associated with pancreatitis. The lack of aggregates in the retinal vessel of their patient does not mean that there was no prior intravascular aggregation of blood particles. As we have pointed out, there may develop desaggregation after microinfarcation, establishing cotton wool spots (2). In our experimental study we were able to produce Purtscher’s retinopathy by fibrin clots (3), which may develop in acute pancreatitis, too. So, the pathogenesis of the retinopathy can still only be explained by occlusion of small retinal capillaries.