Internal limiting membrane graft as a treatment for the retinal detachment secondary to an optic disc coloboma

To report our anatomical outcome with the internal limiting membrane (ILM) graft procedure in the management of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) secondary to optic disc coloboma (ODC).

Description of a new surgical procedure in one eye of one patient who underwent pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) combined with ILM graft technique. Subsequent follow-up included optical coherence tomography (OCT) and visual acuity.

After only 1 week, the OCT revealed the ILM graft plugging the retinal tear with complete resorption of subretinal fluid. The sealing effect of this graft persisted after 6 months. However, visual outcome was poor and corrected distance visual acuity was 20/200 as a result of the previous long-standing retinal detachment with loss of photoreceptors.

We suggest that ILM graft could be performed as a first line treatment in the management of RRD secondary to ODC. This direct closure of the retinal tears, allows a quick and effective interruption of the communication between the subretinal space and the vitreous cavity. Detecting these retinal tears and applying this technique as soon as possible could achieve not only an earlier anatomical success but obtain good visual results in retinal tears with RRD secondary to ODC. Further studies will be necessary to provide more evidences.