Long-term results after proton beam therapy for retinal papillary capillary hemangioma.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the potential benefit and risk of proton beam therapy in the treatment of symptomatic retinal papillary capillary hemangioma. DESIGN: Retrospective interventional case series. METHODS: This study included patients presenting with symptomatic exudative retinal papillary capillary hemangioma with or without association with von Hippel-Lindau disease. All patients were treated either as a first or a secondary treatment option by proton beam therapy between 2001 and 2009. The minimum follow-up was 30 months. RESULTS: Eight eyes of 8 patients (3 male and 5 female, with a mean age of 36 years [range 22-80 years]) were treated for symptomatic papillary retinal hemangioma. The median interval between onset of macular edema and proton beam therapy was 1.7 months (range 0.5-3.3 months). The median follow-up period was 84 months (range 32-106 months) between proton beam treatment and last follow-up. Exudation completely resolved in all but 1 patient after 4.2 months on average (range 2.8-7.2 months). Mean visual acuity prior to proton beam irradiation was 0.7 logMAR (0.2 DIN (DIN 58220 norm)) (range 2-0.3 logMAR) and declined to 0.8 logMAR (0.16 DIN; range 2-0.1 logMAR) at last follow-up examination (no statistical significance, P=.071). CONCLUSION: The anatomic outcome after proton beam therapy for retinal papillary hemangioma is convincing, whereas functional outcome may be compromised because of tumor location, long-persisting macular edema, extensive exudation, and poor initial visual acuity. In patients with extended retinal detachment surgical intervention was still necessary. Although proton beam therapy is proven to be a therapeutic option, treatment will remain challenging.