Retinal Capillary Hemangioblastoma Excision

In this video, Drs. Michael Cohen and Jay Duker perform a pars plana vitrectomy and resection to treat an 19-year-old female with a history of von Hippel-Lindau syndrome and 2 retinal capillary hemangioblastomas. They begin with the core vitrectomy, lifting the hyaloid and shaving the vitreous base. Perfluoro-N-octane (PFO) was instilled to protect the macular and posterior pole. The infero-temporal lesion was treated with laser, followed by a triple freeze-thaw cryotherapy. The superior lesion and efferent and afferent vessels were treated with laser, and the retinectomy site was outlined using diathermy. After removing the tumor with a vitrector, surgeons performed an air-fluid exchange, applied laser to the retinectomy site and infused silicone oil to complete the surgery. Five months postop, OCT imaging showed a decrease in subretinal exudate, and the patient’s vision improved from hand motion to 20/400.

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