Visual recovery after scleral buckling for macula-off retinal detachments: an optical coherence tomography study

To assess the postoperative macular reattachment through OCT3 in eyes treated with episcleral surgery due to macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, as well as to verify if there is a statistically relevant relation between the persistence of a subfoveal detachment and poor postoperative functional recovery.

Twelve eyes of 12 patients who underwent episcleral surgery due to macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment were enrolled and examined in a prospective study. Exclusion criteria were the following: traumatic retinal detachments, detachment relapses, macular holes, amblyopia, and grade B proliferative vitreoretinopathy or higher. The time period from the onset of subjective symptoms of retinal detachment to retinal surgery ranged from 3 to 7 days. All patients were evaluated in the preoperative and the postoperative period (after 1, 3, and 6 months) through measurement of visual acuity by ETDRS charts, fundus photographs, and macular tomography with OCT3. The postoperative tomography outcomes and the visual acuity were statistically examined using the Mann-Whitney U-test.

One month after surgery, despite the macular reattachment assessable ophthalmoscopically and through fundus photographs, the OCT examination showed macular subretinal fluid persistence in 66.6% of cases. After 3 and 6 months, the persistence of such foveal detachment was respectively observed in 41.6% and in 33.3% of cases. Moreover, the macular subretinal fluid persistence in the postoperative period showed a statistically significant relation with poor functional recovery.

Delayed or incomplete visual recovery after episcleral surgery for macula-off retinal detachment may be related to macular subretinal fluid persistence, assessable with tomography and not visible ophthalmoscopically.