Multifocal bilateral choroidal neovascularization in a patient on ipilimumab for metastatic melanoma

Choroidal neovascularization membrane (CNVM) is a significant cause of ocular morbidity. Immunologic mechanisms have been proposed in the development of these lesions in exudative age related macular degeneration. Here, we describe the case of an 81-year-old man receiving ipilimumab, an immune modulating drug that enhances T cell response, for metastatic melanoma who developed three simultaneous CNVM bilaterally. This is the first case of ipilimumab-associated CNVM as well as the first case of an immune modulating drug possibly causing CNVM to our knowledge.