A case report: pseudoxanthoma elasticum diagnosed based on ocular angioid streaks and the curative effect of Conbercept treatment

BACKGROUND: This article is a case report of pseudoxanthoma elasticum (PXE) which was diagnosed based on significant angioid streaks (AS) with choroidal neovascularization (CNV) and regain normal visual function by intravitreal injection with Conbercept. CASE PRESENTATION: A 51-year-old woman was referred to the Ophthalmology Department of Qingdao Municipal Hospital (Qingdao, China) on September 14, 2020 for metamorphopsia and loss of vision in the left eye in the preceding three days. Past history: high myopia for more than 30 years, best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) of both eyes was 1.0 (5 m Standard Logarithm Visual Acuity chart in decimal notations), hypertension for six years, and cerebral infarction two years ago, no history of ocular trauma or surgeries or similar patients in family was documented. We used methods for observation, including fundus examination, optical coherence tomography (OCT), fluorescein angiography combined with indocyanine green angiography (FFA + ICGA). Due to her symptoms and manifestations, along with the appearance of her neck skin, which resembled ‘chicken skin’, we speculated that she should be further examined at the Department of Dermatology by tissue paraffin section and molecular pathology analyses, and the diagnosis of PXE was then confirmed. After intravitreal injection with Conbercept (10 mg/ml, 0.2 ml, Chengdu Kanghong Biotechnologies Co., Ltd.; Chengdu, Sichuan, China) she regained her BCVA. CONCLUSIONS: This patient regained her best corrected visual acuity through intravitreal injection with Conbercept. To the best of our knowledge, no publications are available on cases in which a vision loss and the normal visual function can be reverted by intravitreal injection with Conbercept. Although PXE is a disease with low incidence and thus no effective cure established, targeted symptomatic treatment can effectively retard the disease progression and improve visual function, such as intravitreal injection with Conbercept.