Reactive Retinal Astrocytic Tumors (So-called Vasoproliferative Tumors): Histopathologic, Immunohistochemical, and Genetic Studies of Four Cases

We read “Reactive Retinal Astrocytic Tumors (So-called Vasoproliferative Tumors): Histopathologic, Immunohistochemical, and Genetic Studies of Four Cases” by Poole Perry and associates. They report histopathology following enucleation in 4 cases. They accurately demonstrated that the lesions were composed of glial cells (mostly astrocytes) with scarcity of blood vessels. Their observations confirm other reports demonstrating that end-stage retinal vasoproliferative tumors following failed conservative treatments are composed predominantly of glial cells. They showed a fundus photograph of 1 case in which enucleation was performed 16 months after cryotherapy and many intravitreal injections of bevacizumab. We suspect that these treatments, designed to reduce tumor vascularity, were responsible for the histopathologic findings of extensive gliosis.