Outcomes of chronic macula-off retinal detachment repair

There have been disparate outcomes in the few studies that have looked at anatomic success and visual acuity (VA) in chronic retinal rhegmatogenous detachment (RRD) repair. Chronic retinal detachments (RD) without a posterior vitreous detachment (PVD) occur in young myopes often secondary to an atrophic hole. These patients are often asymptomatic, and studies report good surgical anatomic results. However, chronic RD with a PVD is symptomatic but presents late due to patient compliance. This paper aims to evaluate this lesser-studied chronic macula-off RD with PVD.

After obtaining Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval, patients who had undergone surgical intervention for all diagnosis codes of RD were identified in the Denver Health Medical Center database. Medical records were reviewed, and patients found to have open-globe injuries, tractional RD due to proliferative diabetic retinopathy, macula-on detachments, and RD due to previous ocular surgery were excluded. Similarly, patients without PVD were also excluded. A total of 37 patients with PVD-type chronic macula-off RD were thus identified and preoperative characteristics, surgical intervention, and complications were analyzed.

The average patient age was 53.8 years. The length of RRD duration ranged from 30 to 365 days (mean 136.7 days). Twenty-six (70.3% patients had proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) grade C or greater. Initial anatomic success-defined as re-attachment after one surgery-was 54.1%. The final attachment was 94.6%. Fifteen of 37 (40.5%) of the patients had issues with drop adherence, positioning, or missing post-operative appointments.

Chronic macula-off RD with a PVD should be identified as it is associated with much lower rates of initial re-attachment. Socioeconomic factors likely are the driving factor for patients with PVD-type chronic macula-off RD to present late, struggle with positioning, and have difficulty with follow-up and drop compliance. These extended periods without treatment then lead to high rates of PVR and poor initial anatomic success. However, repair of PVD-type chronic macula-off RD should still be pursued as final anatomic success is high.