Bilateral noncalcified astrocytic hamartomas in retinitis pigmentosa: Multimodal imaging evaluation over 8 years of follow-up

Eur J Ophthalmol. 2019 Sep;29(5):NP18-NP21. doi: 10.1177/1120672118804386. Epub 2018 Oct 3.

Abstract

Purpose: To report the evolution of optic disk noncalcified astrocytic hamartomas in a patient with retinitis pigmentosa throughout 8 years of follow-up.

Methods: Case report.

Results: A 42-year-old white man with a diagnosis of retinitis pigmentosa was referred to our medical retinal center for the first time in 2010, for the development of a new optic nerve head lesion in the right eye. Fundus examination, fundus autofluorescence, fluorescein and green indocyanine angiography, spectral-domain optical coherence tomography were performed and confirmed the presence of a papillary noncalcified astrocytic hamartoma in the right eye. Four years later, multimodal imaging evaluation revealed in the left eye the presence of a first optic disk benign tumor, and in 2018, a second in the nasal retina, while in the right eye the sole papillary lesion increased slightly in size.

Conclusions: Noncalcified astrocytic hamartomas can occur in patients with retinitis pigmentosa and can increase in size and number in time. A complete multimodal imaging evaluation is necessary to identify and classify any kind of new lesion that, as known, are associated with these group of hereditary retinal degenerations.

Keywords: Noncalcified astrocytic hamartoma; retinitis pigmentosa.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Calcinosis
  • Fluorescein Angiography / methods
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Hamartoma / complications*
  • Hamartoma / diagnostic imaging
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Multimodal Imaging
  • Optic Disk / diagnostic imaging
  • Optic Disk / pathology*
  • Optic Nerve Diseases / complications*
  • Optic Nerve Diseases / diagnostic imaging
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa / complications*
  • Retinitis Pigmentosa / diagnostic imaging
  • Tomography, Optical Coherence / methods