Photodynamic therapy with double duration for circumscribed choroidal haemangioma: functional and anatomical results based on initial parameters

• Published in: Clinical & experimental ophthalmology Vol. 46; no. 5; pp. 495 - 501
• Main Authors: Süsskind, Daniela, Inhoffen, Werner, Gelisken, Faik, Völker, Michael
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Melbourne John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd 01-07-2018; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Acuity; circumscribed choroidal haemangioma; Exudation; Eye; Fovea; Hemangioma; intraocular tumour; Knee; Ophthalmology; Optical Coherence Tomography; Patients; Photodynamic therapy; prognostic indicator; Retina; Tomography; Visual acuity; circumscribed choroidal haemangioma; intraocular tumour; photodynamic therapy; prognostic indicator
• ISSN: 1442-6404; 1442-9071
• DOI: 10.1111/ceo.13096

Importance
Pre‐treatment symptoms longer than 12 months and foveal cystoid changes are indicators for poor anatomical and functional outcome after photodynamic therapy (PDT).
Background
To evaluate the prognostic factors on the effectiveness of PDT with double duration for treatment of exudative circumscribed choroidal haemangioma.
Design
Retrospective study.
Participants
Twenty‐seven patients with symptomatic exudative circumscribed choroidal haemangioma treated with PDT.
Methods
Clinical charts of patients with exudative circumscribed choroidal haemangioma treated with PDT were analysed with regard to visual acuity, duration of symptoms, subfoveal fluid, foveal cystoid changes and foveal thickness in optical coherence tomography.
Main Outcome Measures
Change of best‐corrected visual acuity, sub‐ and intrafoveal fluid and foveal thickness measured with optical coherence tomography from baseline to last follow‐up.
Results
Mean visual acuity improved by 0.05 from 0.42 logMAR (standard deviation [SD] 0.34) to 0.37 logMAR (SD 0.47). In 70% of the patients, PDT stopped exudation and revealed a dry fovea. The recurrence or persistence of sub‐ or intrafoveal fluid was significantly associated with pre‐therapeutic symptoms existing for more than 12 months (P = 0.046). Mean foveal thickness in optical coherence tomography decreased from 324 μm (SD 223 μm) to 209 μm (SD 109 μm).
Conclusions and Relevance
PDT proved to be a safe and effective treatment procedure for exudative circumscribed choroidal haemangioma in our series, with few side effects. We observed a more successful treatment with regard to anatomical and functional results in cases with pre‐existing symptoms less than 12 months and in cases without pre‐therapeutic foveal cystoid changes.