Therapeutic outcomes of retinal hemangioblastomas

To report the results of treatments and therapeutic complications of retinal hemangioblastomas (RH).

Retrospective consecutive case series. Data from 32 patients (37 eyes) with RH were reviewed for characteristics of RH and treatment outcomes.

Among 32 patients, we identified 73 RHs in 37 eyes. At baseline, 24 of 37 eyes (65%) had 20/50 visual acuity or better, 8 eyes (22%) had intermediate vision (20/400-20/50), and 5 eyes (13%) had poor vision (≤20/400). Seven RHs (9.6%) were located in the juxtapapillary area, and 66 RHs (90.4%) were located in peripheral area. Small RHs (54.8%; <0.5 mm in size) were treated with laser photocoagulation, moderate-sized RHs (24.7%; 0.5-3.0 mm in size) were treated with transpupillary thermotherapy, and large RHs (20.5%; >3.0 mm in size) were treated with a combination of transpupillary thermotherapy and cryotherapy. After treatment, 90% of small RHs regressed, whereas only 67% of large RHs regressed (P = 0.044). Peripheral RHs showed better response to treatment than juxtapapillary RHs (P = 0.010). Treatment-related complications occurred in 5 eyes (14%), and 1-step combination therapy was applied more frequently in the complication group (P = 0.048).

Small RHs in peripheral areas may require aggressive treatment because they respond well to treatment. In larger RHs, staged treatment could reduce treatment-related complications. Transpupillary thermotherapy could be an effective method in tumor regression for moderate-to-large-sized RHs showing tumor regression rate of 70%.