Oral propranolol therapy for management of exudative retinal detachment from diffuse choroidal hemangioma in Sturge-Weber syndrome

Abstract

Purpose: Diffuse choroidal hemangioma (DCH), a feature of Sturge-Weber syndrome, is most often treated with whole-eye radiotherapy at stage of complications such as retinal detachment.

Methods: This is a case report of a 17-year-old boy with DCH and exudative retinal detachment.

Results: The patient was treated with propranolol at 60 mg twice a day for 2 months followed by gradual dose taper to 10 mg twice a day per month and discontinued at 7 months. The retinal detachment slowly resolved over 1 month and the retina remained attached at 10 months follow-up. There were no medication side effects.

Conclusions: We suggest that oral propranolol be considered in the armamentarium for selected DCH.