Abstract
Purpose: :
To evaluate the natural history of subretinal fluid (SRF) reabsorption after primary scleral buckle placement (SBP) for macula-involving retinal detachment using spectral domain OCT (SD-OCT) and correlate its persistence with visual outcome.
Methods: :
This was a retrospective review of 25 patients treated with scleral buckle, cryotherapy, and in some cases external drainage of subretinal fluid. Patients were examined with a complete eye exam and spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 9 months, and 1 year after surgery or until their subretinal fluid had reabsorbed. Primary outcome variables were vision and residual subretinal fluid on OCT.
Results: :
Postoperative SD-OCT 1 month after SBP demonstrated a subclinical area of subfoveal fluid in a significant number (70%) of patients. Fluid persisted at 6 months (55%) and even at 12 months in some cases (10%). In some patients, vision continued to improve even after the 6th postoperative month if trace subretinal fluid was still present. Factors related to the persistence of fluid included: younger age, myopia and inferiorly located detachments. Final visual acuity was not influenced by the persistence of subretinal fluid. Patterns of subretinal fluid resorption will be demonstrated with imaging.
Conclusions: :
This study confirms previous studies’ reports of subretinal fluid persistence after primary SBP. This is the first study to demonstrate these imaging findings in high resolution detail with spectral domain OCT.
Keywords: retinal detachment • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: natural history • imaging methods (CT, FA, ICG, MRI, OCT, RTA, SLO, ultrasound)