Abstract
Purpose :
To provide contemporary data on the aetiology, clinical features and outcomes of paediatric retinal detachment in an Irish population.
Methods :
A retrospective review of all those under 16 years who underwent surgical repair for retinal detachment at a single centre by a single surgeon between the years 2008 and 2014 inclusive was performed. In each case the cause, the type of retinal detachment, its extent, the presence or absence of macular involvement, the number and form of reparative surgery undertaken, and the surgical outcome was recorded.
Results :
Twenty-seven eyes of 24 patients, 14 (58%) of whom were male and 10 (42%) of whom were female, their mean age being 12.7 years and range 4 – 16 years were operated on over the 7 year period studied. Retinal detachment was caused by trauma in 14 (52%) cases, high myopia in 7 (26%) cases, anterior segment dysgenesis in 2 (7%) cases and had other causes in the remaining 4 (15%) cases. Sixty-two surgical procedures were performed with a mean of 2.4 procedures per patient and a range of 1 – 8 procedures. Complex vitrectomy followed by scleral buckling were those most commonly undertaken. Mean postoperative visual acuity was 1.2 logMAR with range 0.0 – 2.5 logMAR. In 26 (92%) cases the retina was attached at last follow-up.
Conclusions :
Retinal detachment in children is rare compared with adults. There is consequently limited relevant data available for this group of patients. Aggressive management of retinal detachment including re-operation increases the likelihood of anatomical success. If a reparative procedure must be intraocular the visual prognosis is poor.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.