Purpose:
To describe the use of spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) to identify silicone oil emulsion in a series of patients following temporary silicone oil tamponade.
Methods:
Spectral-domain OCT was used to identify silicone oil emulsion in a series of patients following vitreoretinal surgery using temporary silicone oil tamponade. Nine eyes of nine patients who had undergone vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade were studied retrospectively using OCT. Each eye was monitored during the postoperative period by clinical examination and using both time and spectral-domain OCT. In vitro, anterior segment spectral-domain OCT images were acquired of model eyes in which emulsified silicone oil had been injected in anterior chamber.
Results:
Nine patients with silicone oil emulsion secondary to a retinal detachment (8 patients) or macular hole surgery (1 patient).The mean age of patients was 57 years (range, 50-76 years). Eight eyes had undergone silicone oil tamponade for retinal detachment and one for full thickness macular hole. In eight eyes, the OCT examination was carried out after silicone oil removal (mean 11.8 ± 13.6 months, range 1.75- 40 months) and in one eye the OCT examination was carried with the oil in situ. On OCT, all eyes showed either silicone oil droplets intraretinally or underneath an epiretinal membrane (ERM). The emulsion was seen as hyper-reflective, spherical droplets with both time and spectral-domain OCT modalities. Anterior segment studies of silicone oil emulsification confirmed that the configuration of this sheen mimics that of a silicone oil hyperoleum seen with spectral-domain OCTs.
Conclusions:
Spectral-domain OCT is a useful method of identifying silicone oil emulsion both intraretinally and underneath ERMs, as defined by the presence of hyper-reflective spherical bodies. Further studies are required to determine the incidence, clinicopathological and functional significance of silicone emulsion in the retina associated with vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade.
Keywords: imaging/image analysis: clinical • vitreoretinal surgery • retina