Management and Surgical Outcomes of Tractional Retinal Detachment Associated With Ocular Syphilis

This study aimed to describe the surgical management and outcomes of tractional retinal detachments (TRDs) associated with syphilitic uveitis.

This is a retrospective case series.

Four eyes of four patients were included, ranging in age at presentation from 40 to 80 years of age. All patients were treated with 14 days of intravenous penicillin. All eyes underwent vitrectomy, membrane peel (MP), and endolaser. Three of four eyes had silicone oil tamponade placed and one eye had C3F8 gas. One eye required primary retinectomy. Post-operatively, two eyes developed proliferative vitreoretinopathy-related tractional redetachments requiring repeat vitrectomy, MP, endolaser, and silicone oil tamponade. All patients achieved final anatomic success without need for long-term silicone oil tamponade. Final visual acuity ranged from 20/50 to light perception.

Patients with syphilitic uveitis may rarely develop TRDs. Although anatomic success was achieved in all cases, the visual acuity outcomes were variable.