I have a tumor called Choroidal Hemangioma on the retina of my right eye next to the optic nerve, it’s about the size of the tip of my baby finger. It's non cancerous. The vision in that eye has been reduced to 20/80. Although it may have been there and undetected for decades and it's exactly where I get the cluster headache pain, I am told the two are not related. I am going for radiation plaque surgery on Thursday at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, the largest cancer treatment hospital in Canada, where I was diagnosed with the tumour. I hope and pray that it does not trigger a cluster cycle as I have been in remission since March of this year. If I don't get the surgery the tumour may get larger and I could lose the sight totally in that eye or even lose my eye. I have had cluster headaches for 35 years and I may have had this tumour just as long, only detected now because it is affecting my vision. It just makes me wonder why I get severe pain in my right eye exactly where the tumour is, but it’s not causing the pain. Any thoughts on this anyone?

Bud,

I have a very similar situation.  I've been experiencing cluster headaches for 5 years - fortunately only 3 major attacks to date - always at the same time of year.  Diagnosed with a benign tumor in my right orbital shortly after first attack - interestingly I had temporarily lost full vision in my right eye (approx. 30 minutes) - but full vision returned.

Most recent episode was Nov. 26th - lost full vision for about 8 hours - has since partially returned to 20/100.  Neurosurgeon has clarified the diagnosis to be a Hemangioma which is now compressing the optic nerve.

I have an appointment scheduled for Dec. 5th at Sunnybrook in Toronto to discuss diagnosis in more detail along with surgery options (if, when, how).

All the best with your surgery!!

Thanks for the comments everyone, the surgery went well and did not trigger a cycle. The only thing that I noticed was the pain in my eye in the recovery room was like a shadow and was gone once I was fully awake. Now it's wait and see time and I mean that literally, to see if I get any improvement in the sight in that eye. Would be nice if I never got another cluster but all the doctors say this is unrelated. Since when are they right when it comes to cluster headaches.

Hello from Germany,

i just found this topic after searching the web for Choroidal Hemangioma.
Me (32/m) was diagnosed with this disease too. Its also near/at the optic nerve and about 2x size of optic disc.

@Bud: How are you now after this treatment? How is your sight today? Thanks in advance! sky

Hey Bud,

thanks for your reply! Its nice to hear that you lived some years here in Germany.

And its great that you had so good results with your surgery! 
I guess your symptoms were also caused by fluid leaks of your hemangioma and not the hemangioma itself, which hence reduced your vision and brought this dark spot in field of vision?

As i mentioned my CH is also next to my optic nerve and about 2x the diameter of optic nerve.

Here in Germany it seems that we actually have 3 options of treatment: Photodynamic Therapy (PDT), ophthalmic plaque brachytherapy (what you had) and proton therapy.

I would prefer PDT at all, but don't know if its possilble next to optic nerve. Did you know why they choosed brachytherapy in your case instead of PDT?

I wish you continued good improvement! 
Thank you so much Bud! sky