Purpose: To study the use of ultra-widefield fluorescein angiography (UWF FA) in the detection and management of retinal capillary hemangioblastomas in patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease.
Methods: This is a retrospective study of patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease who underwent UWF FA using the Optos camera at a single center from June 2009 to May 2015. The clinical use of UWF FA was reviewed, and the number of hemangioblastomas identified on UWF FA was compared with ophthalmoscopy and a simulated seven standard field (7SF) FA montage.
Results: Twenty eyes of 10 patients were identified. Only 33% of lesions seen on UWF FA were also found on ophthalmoscopy, and 88% of lesions visualized on UWF FA were located outside the 7SF overlay. In 5 eyes that had gaze steering, 18% of lesions could be visualized only on gaze-steered images. For the 14 eyes with data available, 6 had procedures recommended and 8 eyes observed based on data from UWF FA. One of 20 eyes had a lesion on ophthalmoscopy that was missed by imaging.
Conclusion: Ultra-widefield FA using the Optos camera is helpful for the evaluation and management of patients with von Hippel-Lindau disease. The UWF FA with gaze steering appears to detect more hemangioblastomas than ophthalmoscopy and conventional angiography.