Intravitreal ranibizumab for choroidal neovascularization associated with retinal astrocytic hamartoma

PURPOSE. To report on a patient with retinal astrocytic hamartoma, who developed a choroidal neovascularization (CNV), effectively treated by intravitreal ranibizumab injections. METHODS. A 74-year-old woman who, 12 years before, had been diagnosed with a yellow-gray lesion in the left eye (OS) presented in our department for OS decreased vision of recent onset. RESULTS. Upon a complete ophthalmologic examination including ultrasonography, fluorescein angiography (FA), and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT), the patient was diagnosed with retinal astrocytic hamartoma and coincident CNV on its foveal border Six months after 3 monthly intravitreal ranibizumab injections, FA and OCT revealed the CNV closure and absence of intraretinal and subretinal fluid on the fovea] border of the retinal astrocytic hamartoma. CONCLUSIONS. Associations between retinal astrocytic hamartoma and CNV have not been previously reported. lntravitreal ranibizumab injection appears an attractive therapeutic option for patients showing such an unusual association. (Eur J Ophthalmol 2010; 20: 789-91)