Severe proliferative vitreoretinopathy and retinal detachment. I. Initial clinical findings

We studied 716 eyes of 697 patients with retinal detachment associated with the more advanced stages of proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR). The factors that influenced the severity of PVR and our criteria for surgical treatment were analyzed using statistical methods. The more severe cases of PVR showed a higher prevalence of cases with (1) retinal detachment exceeding 12 months' duration, (2) no retinal breaks observed, (3) the largest retinal break of a size equal to or exceeding one clock hour, and (4) poor initial visual acuity. Compared with the unoperated group, the eyes on which we subsequently operated were characterized by a greater prevalence of (1) patients with bilateral retinal detachment complicated by PVR, (2) cases with relatively recent onset of retinal detachment, (3) phakic eyes, (4) eyes without vitreous hemorrhage, (5) eyes with one or more visible retinal breaks and with smaller breaks, (6) relatively better initial visual acuity, and (7) less severe degrees of PVR.