[Eales' disease involving central nervous system white matter].

Eales' disease (ED) is a rare condition characterized by repeated retinal and vitreous hemorrhages. The only extraocular involvement described occasionally in the literature is neurological. Histologically, vasculitis in ED is usually restricted to the eye, but occasionally involves the central nervous system, where demyelinizing lesions may also occur. We present a 34-year-old male with ED and subclinical central nervous system involvement. Craneal magnetic resonance images (MR) suggested demyelinization; brainstem auditory and somatosensory evoked potentials were abnormal. There was moderate pleocytosis in CSF and intratecal production of immunoglobulins with oligoclonal bands. Follow-up over a period of 2.5 years showed no clinical, MR or CSF changes in spite of continued opthamological impairment. Little is known about factors that affect the development or not of demyelinizing lesions in ED patients with neurological involvement demonstrated by intratecal production of immunoglobulins. Identification of such factors may contribute to our understanding of other diseases, such as multiple sclerosis.