Retinal detachment with retinal pigment epithelial tear under hypotony after trabeculectomy: A case report

To report a case of retinal detachment with retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) tear, under hypotony after trabeculectomy, which immediately resolved upon elevation of intraocular pressure.

A 67-year-old man who had undergone trabeculectomy presented for treatment of a visual field defect in his left eye. His glaucoma surgery was uneventful. At his first visit to our clinic, the patient's visual acuity was 15/20 in the right eye and 20/40 in the left; intraocular pressure was 18 mmHg in the right and 5 mmHg in the left. Fundus examination of the left eye revealed a retinal detachment, overlying a choroidal detachment, and an RPE tear. The retinal detachment did not resolve with systemic steroid pulse therapy or vitrectomy. The patient was then diagnosed with an exudative retinal detachment with RPE tear under hypotony, and transconjunctival sutures were applied to tighten the scleral flap, to elevate intraocular pressure. After the transconjunctival sutures were applied, intraocular pressure increased to 10 mmHg and the exudative retinal detachment immediately resolved. There was no recurrence of retinal detachment after the intervention.

Because there have been few case reports of retinal detachment with an RPE tear after glaucoma filtering surgery, no therapeutic strategy has yet been proposed. The findings in this case indicate that intraocular pressure elevation is effective for treating exudative retinal detachment with RPE tear in cases of hypotony after glaucoma filtering surgery.