SURGICAL OUTCOMES OF VASOPROLIFERATIVE RETINAL TUMORS' REFRACTORY TO NONINVASIVE THERAPIES

Purpose: To evaluate the outcomes of surgical treatment of refractory vasoproliferative retinal tumors (VPTs) and its complications.

Methods: Clinical charts of all patients diagnosed with VPTs who underwent surgical treatment from 2005 to 2020 were reviewed. Clinical features, surgical techniques, and outcomes were evaluated.

Results: From 25 eyes of 23 patients with VPTs, 17 (68%) eyes underwent surgical intervention to treat tumor activity and associated complications including epiretinal membrane (n = 10, 59%), retinal detachment (n = 8, 47%), and vitreous hemorrhage (n = 3, 18%). All eyes underwent pars plana vitrectomy with endolaser/cryotherapy to control tumor activity and to treat associated complications. Three cases required tumor resection. At the end of follow-up (mean 55.4 months, range 2-305 months), no eye presented tumor activity or retinal detachment after one or two surgeries. There was no epiretinal membrane recurrence. The mean baseline best-corrected visual acuity was 1.2 ± 0.7 logMAR, and the mean final best-corrected visual acuity was 0.7 ± 0.6 logMAR ( P < 0.05). The best-corrected visual acuity improved two or more lines in 12 (70.5%) eyes at the end of follow-up.

Conclusion: In this series of patients with large active VPTs, surgical intervention allowed control of the tumor activity in all patients and provided overall satisfactory anatomic and functional outcomes.