Koushik Tripathy, Yog Raj Sharma, Harsh Inder Singh,Subodh Kumar Singh, Pradeep Venkatesh, RajpalVohra, Varun Gogia, Ravi Bypareddy, Babulal Kumawat

Purpose:
To evaluate the efficacy of prophylactic lasertherapy to prevent retinal detachment in choroidalcoloboma.

Method:
Retrospective review of records of patientswith choroidal coloboma attending retina clinic of atertiary eye care center was performed. All patientshad received three to four rows of contiguous laserspots at coloboma margin including the anteriormargin, and sparing the macula on initial presentation.

Results:
Total 366 eyes of 233 patients werereviewed. According to Ida Mann’s classification ofchoroidal coloboma, 158 eyes (43%) had type 1, 123eyes (34%) had type 2, 72 eyes (20%) had type 3 and13 eyes (3%) had type 5 coloboma. Only 23 patients(9.8%) had unilateral choroidal coloboma. The followup period ranged from 6 months to 17 years (5.1 ± 3.9years). Only one eye (0.3%) with type 5 colobomadeveloped retinal detachment, which was repairedsuccessfully with vitreoretinal surgery. There was nosignificant difference between pre-laser mean visualacuity (LogMAR 1.2 ± 0.6) and mean visual acuity atfinal follow up (LogMAR 1.3 ± 0.6) (P = 0.4).

Conclusion:
Prophylactic laser of choroidal colo-boma has shown encouraging results in pre-venting retinal detachment in our clinical practice. Itcan help to maintain visual acuity in these cases inlong term. We routinely recommend prophylactic laserto all choroidal colobomas presenting after 4 years ofage.