Novel surgical approach for removing intraretinal loculated foveal hemorrhage in a patient with hypertensive retinopathy

PURPOSE: To present a surgical approach for removing intra-retinal loculated foveal hemorrhage due to hypertensive retinopathy (HR) in a patient with uncontrolled hypertension (HTN). OBSERVATIONS: A 67-year-old man presented to a tertiary retina clinic with the complaint of decreased vision in his left eye (OS) for the past six months. He had a history of uncontrolled HTN, which caused HR; otherwise, his past medical and ocular history were insignificant. His best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) was 20/20 right eye (OD) and 20/400 OS. Fundus examination of OD did not show significant pathology except mild arterial narrowing. Fundus examination of OS revealed arterial narrowing and multiple areas of small retinal hemorrhage. Old, organized hemorrhage with a yellow foveal centered lesion appearance was detected on fundus examination. Spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) showed a dense hyper-reflective intra-retinal lesion at the fovea. Pars plana vitrectomy was performed. Internal limiting membrane (ILM) was stained with Brilliant Blue G (BBG) and peeled off around the lesion using ILM forceps. Attempts to remove the lesion with cannula-assisted active backflush and aspiration were unsuccessful. Therefore, the lesion was gently dissected and extracted by using 41-gauge needle. After removing the clot, the rotational ILM flap technique was used to repair the developed macular hole-like tissue defect. At the two-month follow-up visit, BCVA improved considerably to 20/50, and significant anatomical restoration was observed. CONCLUSION AND IMPORTANCE: HR is relatively common among patients with elevated blood pressure. To date, management of HR and its complications such as retinal hemorrhage is limited to non-surgical methods. For the first time, a surgical approach is utilized to manage one of the HR's complications with prominent visual and structural improvement. The index case report presents a new management option for hypertensive retinal hemorrhage, but only in appropriate patients with ocular indications and understanding of the potential adverse events associated with the surgical procedure.