An Efficacy and Safety Study of Intra-arterial Recanalization of Occluded Ophthalmic Arteries in Patients with Monocular Blindness Caused by Injection of Hyaluronic Acid in Facial Tissues

Abstract

Propose: To evaluate the efficacy and safety of recanalizing hyaluronic acid-occluded retinal central artery by intra-arterially infusing hyaluronidase.

Methods: Between December 2015 and December 2016, 30 patients with monocular blindness due to the injection of hyaluronic acid in facial tissue underwent ophthalmic artery recanalization. The outcome of the intra-arterial treatment was retrospectively reviewed. The fundus was examined 24 hours after the treatment to observe revisualization of the retinal arteries. The success rate of intra-arterial recanalization of the ophthalmic artery, procedure-related complications, visual acuity recovery, eyeball and eyelid movement restoration was followed up for up to 3 months.

Results: The success rate of ophthalmic arterial catheterization was 100%. No interventional procedure-related adverse events were found. Twenty-six patients presented ptosis and 23 patients presented ocular motility disorders. The ptosis disappeared and 18 patients had normal eye movement after the intra-arterial therapy. Five of the 30 patients had visual improvement and four patients with complete vision loss gained some light perception. After the intra-arterial thrombolysis, digital subtraction angiographic imaging revealed enlarged and numerous branches of the ophthalmic artery and a clearer ring around the eye.

Conclusion: Intra-arterial infusion of hyaluronidase and mechanical recanalization is an effective and safe approach for recovering the visual acuity in the patients with monocular blindness caused by the migration of hyaluronic acid injected in the facial tissues.

Level of evidence iv: This journal requires that authors assign a level of evidence to each article. For a full description of these Evidence-Based Medicine ratings, please refer to the Table of Contents or the online Instructions to Authors www.springer.com/00266 .

Keywords: Blindness; Cosmetic procedure; Eyeball orbital injury; Hyaluronic acid; Hyaluronidase; Interventional recanalization.