Scatter retinal photocoagulation for proliferative sickle cell retinopathy.

We treated sea-fan neovascularization in 19 patients (21 eyes) who had proliferative sickle cell retinopathy with localized scatter photocoagulation. We placed burns of light to moderate intensity adjacent to 45 sea fans in a scatter fashion. In general, treatment extended from 1.5 mm posterior to 1.5 mm anterior to the sea fan and one clock hour to each side of each lesion. Flat sea fans responded dramatically to treatment, with complete regression in 24 of 28 lesions. Elevated sea fans (especially large ones) responded less rapidly, with complete regression in only four of 17 lesions. Localized scatter photocoagulation is valuable in treating patients with early proliferative sickle cell retinopathy.