Efficacy of intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy for vision loss resulting from hyaluronic acid filler embolization.

Background: The incidence of hyaluronic acid (HA) embolism has increased markedly in recent years. HA embolism can lead to serious complications such as blindness, eye and eyelid movement disorders, skin necrosis, and cerebral embolism. However, there is a lack of robust clinical evidence regarding the benefits of treatment of HA embolism with intra-arterial thrombolytic therapy (IATT).

Methods: In the present study, we enrolled 45 patients with decreased visual acuity, including 40 patients with symptoms of vision loss and eight patients with symptoms of intracranial embolism. The patients underwent emergency IATT via hyaluronidase and papaverine injections, followed by conventional sequential therapy.

Results: In the 45 patients with symptoms of vision loss, 16 (36%) exhibited improvements in final visual acuity, even when the clinical application of the thrombolytic treatments was performed beyond the recommended window for optimal treatment. The facial skin necrosis of all patients was restored to near normal appearance. Notably, for eight patients with suspected symptoms of intracranial infarction we performed cerebral angiography and IATT, and in two patients obtained partial recanalization of the obstruction, the symptoms of heavy headache and binocular distension pain were improved in one patient with intracranial embolism after IATT treatment.

Conclusion: Our results indicate that IATT is feasible for patients with vision loss induced by HA embolism. IATT combined with conventional sequential therapy was beneficial in the recovery from other serious HA embolism complications. Nevertheless, the underlying pathophysiological mechanism needs to be clarified in future animal experiments.