Radiation Retinopathy after Irradiation of Intracranial Lesion

Lee, Jae Yong; Kang, Sin Hee; Kim, Hyung Chan

Abstract

PURPOSE: Radiation retinopathy is a slowly progressive vaso-occlusive angiopathy of the retina. The history of previous radiation exposure is very essential for the diagnosis. We report one case of radiation retinopathy after the radiation therapy for brain tumor with a good result using photocoagulation and focal laser treatment.
METHODS
The chief complaint of 48 aged-female patient was a slowly progressive decrease in left visual acuity. The best corrected visual acuity of right eye was 1.0 and the best corrected visual acuity of left eye was 0.5. We got the diagnosis with a detailed history taking and fluorescein angiography. We did panretinal photocoagulation on both eyes due to non-perfused area, angiogenesis, and we did focal laser treatment on right eye due to macular edema.
RESULTS
Compared with previous examination, right eye was stable without any change of fundus examination and the best corrected visual acuity of right eye was 1.0 after panretinal photocoagulation and focal laser treatment, but mild vitreous hemorrahage occurred in left eye after panretinal photocoagulation. Follow-up at 6 months after laser treatment showed that hemorrahage of left eye was absorbed more than before and we did additional photocoagulation on the peripheral retina. Follow-up at 12 months after laser treatment showed that right eye was stable, angiogenesis of left eye was regressed and best corrected visual acuity was 0.5.
CONCLUSIONS
Detailed history taking and suspicion is important for the diagnosis of radiation retinopathy. It is also essential to suppress the progression of the disease with an early detection through regular examinations.