Abstract
Purpose :
To describe the role of preoperative gas placement as an adjunctive therapy to pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RRD) undergoing surgical repair.
Methods :
This is a retrospective case series of RRDs with breaks in the superior quadrants requiring PPV who received intravitreal injection of sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) gas 1-2 weeks prior to PPV between 2016 and 2020 at a tertiary care center.
Results :
A total of 15 eyes with superior RRDs underwent preoperative gas placement, 80% of which had macular involvement. The RRDs involved the superior half of the retina and all breaks were also confined to the superior half. The retinal breaks were no larger than 1.5 clock hours in size, with no more than 1 clock hour between the breaks if multiple breaks were present. On clinical examination, the subretinal fluid involving the area of the detached retina was noted to have dissipated after SF6 gas injection, before PPV, in 100% of cases. A 95% primary anatomical success rate was achieved over the median follow-up time of 120 days (range: 60-180). A final visual acuity of 20/80 or better was achieved in 60% of patients.
Conclusions :
Preoperative gas placement as an adjunctive therapy to PPV may facilitate ease of surgery as well as increase the anatomical and functional success for RRDs that fall within the criteria for pneumatic gas placement and retinopexy.
This abstract was presented at the 2024 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, WA, May 5-9, 2024.