Cryotherapy for retinoblastoma
D. H. Abramson, R. M. Ellsworth and G. W. Rozakis
Cryotherapy was applied to 138 intraocular retinoblastoma tumors from 113
patients who were followed up for a mean of 40 months (four to 144 months).
Overall, 70% of tumors were cured with cryotherapy and 93% of patients
treated with cryotherapy survived. Twenty-one tumors were treated initially
with cryotherapy alone, and 20 such tumors were cured. Twenty-seven new
tumors appeared in eyes after radiation therapy and of these, 23 were cured
with cryotherapy. Thirty-nine tumors were treated with cryotherapy after
unsuccessful treatment with external beam irradiation, and 35 were cured
with cryotherapy. Twenty-eight patients developed implantation seeds at the
vitreous base after external beam irradiation but cryotherapy failed in
each of these cases. There were few long-term ocular complications from
cryotherapy despite intensive, heavy, and repeated cryotherapy. The
limiting factor that determines success of cryotherapy is the size,
elevation, and location of the tumor.
