Although it is well-established that oestrogen-containing contraception has prothrombotic potential in women over 35 years of age, particularly in women who smoke, low dose progesterone-containing contraception, both oral and parenteral, has not been conclusively linked to prothrombotic events. We evaluated two patients who developed retinal vein occlusion after administration of depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA, Depo-Provera^TM, Pharmacia & Upjohn, Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA) for contraception.

Case reports

A 44-year-old, hypertensive, woman who smoked, presented with decreased visual acuity to the level of 6/200 in the left eye. A non-perfused hemiretinal vein occlusion was present. Ten weeks earlier, she had received a DMPA injection.

Nine months later, her right eye developed a non-perfused central retinal vein occlusion with decreased visual acuity …