[Adjuvant anti-VEGF therapy in Coats' disease]

Coats' disease is a non-hereditary acquired, usually unilateral eye disorder that predominantly occurs in young males (1/100,000) with the onset of symptoms generally appearing in the first two decades of life. Coats' disease is characterized by telangiectatic changes, blood leaks from the defective vessels with retinal exudation followed in advanced stages by retinal detachment.

A 14-year-old male patient presented in our department with gradual visual loss in the right eye. Based on the clinical and diagnostic findings Coats' disease was diagnosed. The exudative retinal detachment in the right eye was initially treated with intravitreal bevacizumab injection (B-IVOM) followed by cryocoagulation and combined with a second administration of B-IVOM 2 weeks later. On the grounds of a persistent exudative retinal detachment a new round of cryotherapy was conducted. We proceeded with laser coagulation of the residual Coats areas and with three cycles of B-IVOM therapy. The subretinal and intraretinal exudates regressed over several weeks so that the patient remained symptom-free 22 months after therapy. At the last examination the visual acuity was 0.8 in the right eye.

The favorable development for our patient demonstrates that adjuvant therapy with intravitreal anti-VEGF injections in addition to laser and cryocoagulation in a case of advanced Coats' disease with exudative retinal tissue damage could lead to the stabilization of the retinal findings and to preservation of good visual acuity.