?Lag time? in retinoblastoma diagnosis in Ukraine (dinicai cases)

Introduction. ?Lag time? ? is the time interval between the appearance of a child's first symptoms and the correct diagnosis of retinoblastoma. Purpose. To present the ?lag time? typical clinical variants in Ukraine and their impact on retinoblastoma stage, treatment tactic and outcome. Material and methods. 5 typical variants of ?lag time? manifestation were chosen from 223 retinoblastoma cases in Ukraine. Results. Long lag-time from 4 to 14 months was observed in 4 patients and associated with parents neglect to first symptoms, treatment by non-traditional methods, incorrect diagnosis by local ophthalmologist, lack or inadequate treatment. As a result, advanced retinoblastoma stage was diagnosed at admission to the Institute that's why the only possible treatment was enucleation (3) and exenteration (1). Retinoblastoma was diagnosed at an early stage in 1 child with a short lag-time, salvage eye treatment was performed with eye and vision preservation. Life survival achieved in 2 cases. Conclusion. Program for the early retinoblastoma detection should include informing of parents and physicians, who work with the child population, about dis-symptoms and the need of urgent referral to the specialized ophthalmologicalcenter for correct management.