Retinoblastoma: Diagnosis and Management

Abstract

In the United States, the average age of the child at diagnosis is 13 months.5 At New York Hospital Cornell Medical Cen ter, we have seen ocular involvement and metastasis present at birth. In other coun tries, the disease is not detected until the fourth year of life, when it is usually far advanced.6 Children born to parents who have been successfully treated for retino blastoma are examined routinely in the first few days after birth and then repeatedly under anesthesia for two to three years. Examinations are performed at six weeks of age and then every two to three months for one year, every three months until age two, and then every four months until age three. Retinoblastoma in these patients is detected at the mean age of 2.4 months and only rarely after three years.2 As many as one out of four patients have normal examinations prior to the appearance of their intraocular tumor.