Pediatric choroidal neovascularization: Etiology and treatment outcomes with anti-vascular endothelial growth factors

Longitudinal Characteristics of Choroidal Neovascular Membrane in Pediatric Patients

PURPOSE

To report the clinical and imaging characteristics, including optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA), and treatment outcomes of choroidal neovascular membranes (CNVMs) in children.

DESIGN

Retrospective clinical cohort study.

METHODS

Thirty eyes from 25 children (56% girls) with CNVM from 2 centers were examined from 2005 to 2022. Clinical features, imaging findings, treatment regimens, and outcomes are described.

RESULTS

The most common causes of CNVM were idiopathic (48%) and inflammatory (20%). At diagnosis, most CNVMs were unilateral (80%), active (83.3%), and juxtafoveal (46.7%). Twenty-five eyes (83.3%) of 21 patients (84%) were treated. The most common first-line treatment was intravitreal injection of anti-vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) (92%), with a retreatment rate of 52.2% at an average of 237 days. The average number of total injections per eye was 2.3. Injections were safely administered in the clinic (52.2%). A gain of 3 lines or 15 ETDRS (Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study) letters was observed at final visit. The average duration of follow-up was 56.46 ± 42.51 months. No ocular or systemic complication related to treatment was reported. Sixteen eyes (64%) had OCTA images at both presentation and final visit, which showed a decrease in CNVM vessel density and vessel-length density, and in the height of retinal pigment epithelium detachment (RPED).

CONCLUSIONS

There are a variety of underlying etiologies for pediatric CNVMs, which are most often unilateral. Treatment with intravitreal anti-VEGF can be beneficial and does not often require frequent or chronic dosing. OCTA demonstrated a decrease in the CNVM vessel density and vessel-length density as well as in the height of RPED.

Unilateral macular neovascularization formation during the follow-up of a 15-year-old boy with Bietti crystalline dystrophy and the successful treatment outcome with a single intravitreal ranibizumab injection

Objective

To report the successful outcome with a single intravitreal ranibizumab injection in a 15-year-old boy with Bietti crystalline dystrophy (BCD) who developed a unilateral macular neovascularization (MNV).

Methods

A retrospective case report.

Results

A 15-year-old Caucasian boy with Bietti crystalline dystrophy was diagnosed to have a unilateral MNV a year after the initial examination with the help of multimodal imaging and he was treated with a single intravitreal ranibizumab injection. Five months later, visual acuity improved and anatomically a dry-looking macula was noted.

Conclusion

MNV is among the rare macular complications of BCD. The present case is the third reported pediatric case with MNV in association with BCD and the first pediatric BCD patient who received a vascular endothelial growth factor inhibitor (anti-VEGF) agent.