Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: a review of current practice in diagnosis and management

Recognising and managing retinal detachments

Retinal detachments are a potentially sight-threatening ophthalmic emergency that may result in significant, irreversible vision loss. The risk of developing retinal detachment increases with advancing age, myopia and trauma. Pre-existing retinal degenerations can precipitate a pre-detachment symptomatic period of photopsia or floaters, allowing clinicians to intervene early and prevent detachments. Novel imaging techniques, such as spectral-domain optical coherence tomography, and well-established topographic modalities, such as B scan, can help to elucidate the type of detachment and any underlying causes, and help with surgical management. The overarching goal of treatment is to identify and seal all retinal holes, relieve vitreoretinal traction and prevent further recurrence. Prompt prophylactic retinopexy of retinal holes and tears is crucial in preventing retinal detachment, the main treatments of which are pars plana vitrectomy, tamponading agents and silicone scleral buckle.

Prognostic factors for visual recovery in idiopathic rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: a prospective study of 90 patients

AIM

To determine the preoperative clinical and tomographic factors involved in the postoperative visual prognosis of macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

METHODS

We conducted a prospective analytical study of 90 eyes of 90 patients who suffered from macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment and were treated in department "A" of "Hedi Raies Institute of Ophthalmology", Tunis. All the patients were examined prior and after the operation, with a thorough interrogation and complete ophthalmological examination. Also, we continued assessing their status for 6 months. We looked for the clinical factors predictive of postoperative visual recovery. The data collected was stored using Excel software and analyzed using SPSS version 18 for Windows (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY). For all statistical tests, the significance level was set at p=0.05.

RESULTS

The mean preoperative visual acuity (VA) was 1.73 +/- 0.34 LogMAR. It was significantly correlated with management delay (p<0.001). Postoperative VA was 0.61 +/- 0.43 LogMAR. The various pre-operative clinical risk factors for poor final visual recovery (VA<5/10) were: preoperative VA ≥ 2 LogMAR, management delay > 15 days (p<0.01), proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) stage C or greater (p=0.01), and number of detached retinal quadrants > 2 (p=0.05). Furthermore, we have found that the preoperative tomographic risk factors for poor visual recovery were: height of sub retinal fluid > 760µm (p < 0.001), disruption of the external limiting membrane and/or ellipsoid zone (p < 0.001), presence of cavitations in the external and/or internal nuclear layer (p = 0.002), and finally the absence of a thickening of the photoreceptor outer segments (p = 0.001).

CONCLUSION

Predictive preoperative clinical factors in macula off RRD are mainly preoperative visual acuity, the management delay, number of quadrants reached and PVR stage. Mastering these factors builds a better understanding of the functional recovery after macula-off retinal detachment and helps advise the patients who will consequently be more involved in the management of this serious disease. Spectral domain OCT allows detection of specific microscopic macular changes. These anomalies could be predictive of final postoperative visual outcome.

Long-term Clinical Outcomes of Implantable Collamer Lens

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term clinical outcomes of implantable collamer lens (ICL) implantation in myopic patients.Methods: This retrospective study included 129 eyes of 68 patients who underwent ICL implantation for correction of myopia with a 10-year follow-up.Results: Ten years after ICL implantation, the mean uncorrected and corrected distance visual acuities (LogMAR) were 0.03 ± 0.13 and -0.07 ± 0.06, respectively. Ten years postoperatively, 52.7% and 84.5% of the eyes were within ± 0.5 and ± 1.0 diopters, respectively. The mean efficacy and safety indices were 0.91 ± 0.22 and 1.07 ± 0.19, respectively. There was no significant difference between mean preoperative (13.52 ± 2.88 mmHg) and postoperative (13.59 ± 3.55 mmHg) intraocular pressures. The endothelial cell density decreased from before surgery to 10 years after surgery (3,074 ± 365 cells/mm2, 2,812 ± 406 cells/mm2, respectively; mean decrease: 8.5 ± 10.8%; p = 0.011). Eight eyes (6.2%) developed cataract during follow-up, which was symptomatic in three eyes (2.3%) and treated with ICL explantation and phacoemulsification. Rhegmatogenous retinal detachment occurred in one eye (0.8%) and was treated with vitrectomy.Conclusions: ICL implantation for the correction of myopia had good efficacy and safety outcomes during long-term follow-up of 10 years. However, patients should be closely monitored for complications such as cataract formation, endothelial cell loss, and retinal detachment.

Safety review of anti-VEGF therapy in patients with myopic choroidal neovascularization

INTRODUCTION

Anti-angiogenesis therapy with intravitreal anti-VEGF agents is now the standard-of-care treatment for myopic choroidal neovascularization (CNV).

AREAS COVERED

We provide a critical review of the safety of all the anti-VEGF agents currently used for treating myopic CNV including ranibizumab, aflibercept, conbercept, bevacizumab, and ziv-aflibercept.

EXPERT OPINION

Anti-VEGF therapy for myopic CNV with the currently available anti-VEGF drugs generally have favorable safety outcomes in the short-term. Nonetheless, ocular adverse events following anti-VEGF therapy for myopic CNV may develop and these include worsening or new development of myopic traction maculopathy, increased risk of retinal detachment, and progression of chorioretinal atrophy. Clinicians should be aware of these potential complications and evaluate them before and after anti-VEGF therapy.

Clinical Significance of Macula-Off Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment Preoperative Features on Optical Coherence Tomography

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the clinical significance of preoperative spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (OCT) features and their association with postoperative outcomes in eyes with primary macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

PATIENTS AND METHODS

This is a retrospective case series of all consecutive cases undergoing repair of primary macula-off RRD at two tertiary care academic centers between January 2018 to January 2021.

RESULTS

Among 406 eyes, baseline visual acuity (β = 0.184, P = .001) and time to surgery (β = 0.009, P = .033) were predictive of postoperative visual acuity at 1-year follow-up after adjusting for age, sex and lens status, as well as presence of preoperative features on OCT such as outer retinal corrugations and height of the retinal detachment.

CONCLUSION

Baseline visual acuity and time to surgical repair are the best predictors of vision outcomes following macula-off RRD repair. [Ophthalmic Surg Lasers Imaging Retina. 2021;52:S23-S29.].

Reporting of Complications in Retinal Detachment Surgical Trials: A Systematic Review Using the CONSORT Extension for Harms

IMPORTANCE

Knowledge on the frequency and severity of complications in surgical trials for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) is essential to determine whether surgical procedures are developed and compared adequately, taking into account not only efficacy but also harms.

OBJECTIVE

To review standards of reporting of complications in recent randomized clinical trials of RRD surgery.

EVIDENCE REVIEW

This systematic review included randomized clinical trials on RRD surgery published between January 2008 and January 2021 in Embase, MEDLINE, and Web of Science Core Collection databases. Titles, abstracts, and full-text articles retrieved were reviewed for eligibility by 2 independent authors. Eligible studies were evaluated against checklist items from the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials Extension for Harms criteria by 2 independent authors, and discrepancies were resolved by discussion with a third author.

FINDINGS

Fifty studies were included. The median number of checklist items fulfilled was 8 (range, 0-15), of a possible total of 18. Frequently reported items were discussions balanced with regard to efficacy and adverse events (42 studies [84%]) and inclusions of harm-associated timing of data collection (41 studies [82%]). The least frequently reported items were distinctions between expected and unexpected adverse events (1 study [2%]) and mentions of the use of a validated instrument to report adverse event severity (4 studies [8%]). Frequency of complications was commonly reported (29 studies [58%]) in contrast with complication severity (10 studies [20%]).

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

This review suggests that severity of complications of RRD surgery has been infrequently quantified and reported in randomized clinical trials and potentially represents an important area of improvement in future RRD surgical trials.

Protective Role of 360° Laser Retinopexy in Patients with Rhegmatogenous Retinal Detachment: a Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

PURPOSE

Visual impairment from retinal re-detachment could be debilitating. The aim of this review is to evaluate the role of 360° laser retinopexy on success rate of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair by a meta-analysis study.

METHODS

The PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases were searched comprehensively from the date of database inception to January 2021, evaluating the role of 360° laser retinopexy in visual and anatomical success rate of RRD repair. This review was conducted based on the preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis (PRISMA) protocols.

RESULTS

Among 202 articles screened for eligibility, six studies were found to be eligible for inclusion in our final analysis. Our meta-analysis demonstrates that prophylactic treatment with circumferential laser photocoagulation has no significant effect on the initial rate of retinal re-detachment or final best-corrected visual acuity following pars plana vitrectomy repair of RRD. Subgroup analysis of studies (n = 3) with 23-gauge pars plana vitrectomy, however, favors attachment rate in patients undergoing 360° prophylactic laser treatment.

CONCLUSIONS

Three hundred and sixty degree laser retinopexy appears to have favorable outcomes in patients undergoing 23-gauge retinal detachment repair. This protective effect, however, is not apparent with inclusion of 20-gauge vitrectomy studies.

Lipid Peroxidation in Subretinal Fluid: Some Light on the Prognosis Factors

The aim of this study was to identify a relation between the clinical characteristics and differences in lipid peroxidation in the subretinal fluid (SRF) of rhegmatogenous retinal detached patients by malondialdehyde (MDA) quantification. We collected 65 SRF samples from consecutive patients during scleral buckling surgery in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) eyes. In addition to a complete ophthalmic evaluation, we studied the refractive status, evolution time, and the number of detached retinal quadrants to establish the extension of RRD. We studied the clinical aspects and oxidative stress and compared the characteristics among groups. We found that neither the evolution time of RRD nor the patients’ age correlated with the MDA concentration in the SRF. The MDA and the protein content of the SRF increased in the patients with high myopia and with more extended RRD. Our results suggest that oxidative imbalance was important in more extended retinal detachment (RD) and in myopic eyes and should be taken into account in the managing of these cases.