Prevention of aphakic retinal detachment by circumferential cryotherapy

In a series of ARD'S, the incidence of bilaterality was 35%, as opposed to an incidence of bilaterality of 12% in patients with PRDs. The purpose of this communication is to determine whether the very high incidence of bilaterality in patients with ARDs can be reduced significantly by prophylactic treatment of the fellow eye. The fellow eye of patients who had suffered a unilateral ARDs were treated by prophylactic circumferential equatorial cryopexy irrespective of whether or not predisposing lesions were present. The eyes were treated either prior to lens extraction or following lens extraction. The techniques, complications and results of treatment are discussed.