Choroidal haemangioma and photodynamic therapy. Anatomical and functional response of patients with choroidal hemangioma treated with photodynamic therapy.
OBJECTIVE
To study the effectiveness and limitations of photodynamic therapy (PDT) as treatment of choice in patients with symptomatic circumscribed choroidal haemangioma.


METHODS
A retrospective study was conducted on 16 patients (13 men and 3 women, with mean age of 54.88 years) with circumscribed choroidal haemangioma, who attended our centre and were treated with PDT in the last 7 years.


RESULTS
All patients had circumscribed choroidal haemangioma, which caused a decrease in visual acuity (VA) secondary to the presence of intraretinal microcystic oedema or neurosensory detachment. The mean initial VA was 0.23, and the final mean VA after performing PDT was 0.38 (all the VA were measured in decimal scale). It should be noted that patients needed a mean of 1.69 PDT sessions. Three of the patients needed rescue treatment with trans-pupillary thermotherapy, intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (ranibizumab, aflibercept) or a dexamethasone intravitreal implant (Ozurdex®). The indication for a change of treatment was the persistence of intraretinal microcystic oedema and/or neurosensory detachment (or incomplete resolution) after 3 PDT sessions. As overall results, 62.5% of patients evolved into anatomical and functional (increase in AV or stability) resolution.


CONCLUSIONS
PDT is a straight forward and fast procedure, with a good anatomical and functional response, causing minimal damage to adjacent vessels.
['Subirà|O|O|', 'Brosa|H|H|', 'Lorenzo-Parra|D|D|', 'Arias-Barquet|L|L|', 'Català-Mora|J|J|', 'Cobos|E|E|', 'Garcia-Bru|P|P|', 'Rubio-Caso|M J|MJ|', 'Caminal-Mitjana|J M|JM|']
D000368:Aged D000369:Aged, 80 and over D020533:Angiogenesis Inhibitors D002830:Choroid Neoplasms D003131:Combined Modality Therapy D003907:Dexamethasone D005260:Female D006391:Hemangioma D006801:Humans D058449:Intravitreal Injections D008297:Male D008875:Middle Aged D010778:Photochemotherapy D017319:Photosensitizing Agents D000069579:Ranibizumab D040262:Receptors, Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins D012189:Retrospective Studies D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence D016896:Treatment Outcome D014792:Visual Acuity D055815:Young Adult
Photodynamic therapy Circumscribed choroidal haemangioma Choroidal tumour Hemangioma coroideo circunscrito Terapia fotodinámica Tumor coroideo