Cryotherapy and photocoagulation in the management of retinoblastoma: treatment failure and unusual complication.

Ophthalmologists treating children with retinoblastoma need to be aware of the limitations of new forms of therapy and their complications. For this reason the following case of a child with a small peripheral retinoblastoma that failed to respond to treatment with both cryotherapy and photocoagulation is recorded. The development of a rapidly growing juxtapapillary lesion prompted immediate enucleation. Histological examination revealed viable tumor cells remaining in the areas that were previously treated. The juxtapapillary mass consisted of optic nerve and detached peripapillary retina that were "dragged" towards the tumor by a thick fibrocellular membrane containing many myofibroblasts.