Choroidal haemangioma and photodynamic therapy. Anatomical and functional response of patients with choroidal hemangioma treated with photodynamic therapy

New insights on circumscribed choroidal hemangioma: "bench to bedside"

Circumscribed choroidal hemangioma is a rare vascular hamartoma of the choroid, presenting as a red-orange mass at the posterior pole on fundoscopic examination. Despite its benign origin, associated complications such as subretinal fluid, serous retinal detachment, retinoschisis and neovascular glaucoma may lead to serious visual impairment in more than half patients. Because of its similarity to amelanotic choroidal melanoma and choroidal metastasis, differential diagnosis is still challenging for specialists. Multimodal imaging such as ultrasonography, fluorescein angiography, indocyanine green angiography, optical coherence tomography, and optical coherence tomography angiography guides the clinician to the correct diagnosis and the proper follow-up. Treatment is indicated in symptomatic cases in order to resolve exudation and improve visual acuity. Treatment options include photocoagulation, transpupillary thermotherapy, radiation therapy, photodynamic therapy and anti-vascular endothelial growth factor therapy. Currently, photodynamic therapy is the treatment of choice due to its effectiveness and safety. The purpose of this review is to describe the latest knowledge in the etiopathogenesis of the circumscribed choroidal hemangioma, the most recent multimodal imaging findings, and the available treatment options.

Photodynamic Therapy in Ocular Oncology

Over the past two decades, we have witnessed the increasing use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in the field of ocular oncology. Based on a review of the literature and our own experience, we herein review the role of PDT for the management of intraocular tumors. The discussion includes two main topics. First, we discuss the application of PDT for benign tumors, including circumscribed choroidal hemangioma, choroidal osteoma, retinal astrocytoma, retinal capillary hemangioma (retinal hemangioblastoma), and retinal vasoproliferative tumor. Second, we assess the role of PDT for malignant tumors, including choroidal melanoma and choroidal metastasis.

Application of ICG-enhanced thermocoagulation method and photodynamic therapy in circumscribed choroidal hemangioma

The present study was designed to compare the effect of indocyanine green (ICG)-enhanced laser (810 nm) thermocoagulation method and photodynamic therapy (PDT) on circumscribed choroidal hemangioma (CCH). A total of 36 patients (36 pair of eyes) diagnosed with CCH in the Ocular Fundus Disease Center of The Affiliated Hospital of Medical College of Ningbo University from June 2010 to January 2016 were selected and randomly divided into two groups. ICG-enhanced thermocoagulation was used to treat 18 patients (18 pair of eyes), and PDT was used to treat the remaining 18 patients (18 pair of eyes). The best corrected visual acuity of the affected eyes was observed before and after treatment, and changes in the tumor were observed through ocular fundus photochromes under the ophthalmoscope. The changes in tumor size and height were examined through B-scan ultrasonography. The changes in serous retinal fluid were examined by optical coherence tomography (OCT). A total of 36 patients were followed-up for 3, 7, 11 and 24 weeks after laser therapy with an average of 18 weeks. It was seen that the subretinal serous exudation disappeared in 36 patients through the fundus examination after treatment, and B-scan ultrasonography showed that the tumor size was reduced. Among 18 patients undergoing ICG-enhanced thermocoagulation treatment, the visual acuity of 72.2% of them was improved, while that of the remaining 27.8% was stable, and there were no patients with decreased visual acuity; the fundus observation showed that when tumor atrophy occurred, the tumor turned white accompanied with mild pigment disorders, but retinal and choroidal normal vessels were not damaged. Among 18 patients undergoing PDT treatment, the visual acuity of 44.4% was increased, that of 50% was stable, and that of 5.6% of the patients was decreased; through fundus observation, tumor atrophy scars and alignment, a large number of hyperplasia or pigment loss and partial vascular occlusion could be seen. The results indicated that in the treatment of CCH, ICG-enhanced laser (810 nm) thermocoagulation and PDT can lead to tumor atrophy and promote the absorption of exudation. However, the damage of ICG-enhanced laser thermocoagulation to normal fundus tissues is significantly smaller than that of PDT, and the former has higher safety.