Recurrent leakage after visudyne photodynamic therapy for the treatment of circumscribed choroidal hemangioma

Background: To report on the recurrence of serous retinal detachment following verteporfin photodynamic therapy for circumscribed choroidal hemangioma. Patients and methods: A single-center chart review was performed for patients with circumscribed choroidal hemangioma (CCH) treated with Visudyne (verteporfin injection; QLT Ophthalmics, Menlo Park, CA) photodynamic therapy (PDT). Initial and post-treatment visual acuity, ultrasound and ocular coherence tomography were evaluated. Results: Four patients who were treated with PDT for symptomatic serous retinal detachment secondary to CCH were managed for recurrent leakage and followed for an average of 47.5 months. Two patients required three re-treatments and two required four re-treatments for recurrent detachment. Average time to re-treatment was 23.4 months, with successive re-treatment intervals decreasing to 13 months, then 9.5 months, and finally 3.5 months. Conclusion: Visudyne PDT is a successful initial treatment modality for CCH with serous retinal detachment; however, those patients who require multiple re-treatments may experience recurrent leakage at more frequent intervals.