Evaluation of the factors affecting visual outcome after successful pars plana vitrectomy surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

PURPOSE: The objective of the study was to evaluate the factors affecting visual prognosis and to analyze optical coherence tomography findings after successful pars plana vitrectomy (PPV) surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).
METHODS: Forty-one eyes of 41 patients who underwent PPV for RRD for the 1st time between December 2010 and July 2013 were included in the study with a retrospective design. Patients were divided into two groups according to visual acuity: Group 1 consisted of 24 patients with improved final best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) after post-operative 6th month; Group 2 consisted of a total of 17 patients: 14 patients with stable final BCVA and 3 patients with deteriorated final BCVA after the post-operative 6th month. Correlation between preoperative and postoperative variables was assessed.
RESULTS: The mean follow-up period was 16.93±7.5 (range, 7–36) months. While 26 (63.4%) patients had macula-off RRD, 15 (36.6%) patients had macula-on RRD. Pre-operative BCVA (p<0.001) and post-operative BCVA (p=0.002) was significantly better in eyes with macula-on RRD. Pre-operative and post-operative BCVA were found to have positive correlation (p<0.001, r=0.58). The number of eyes with intact photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction, disrupted IS/OS junc-tion, foveal epiretinal membrane (ERM), and parafoveal ERM was 8 (33.3%), 2 (8.3%), 1 (4.2%), and 13 (54.2%) in Group 1, while it was 2 (11.8%), 3 (17.6%), 2 (11.8%), and 10 (58.8%) in Group 2, respectively.
CONCLUSION: Pre-operative BCVA and absence of macular detachment are important prognostic factors in patients with RRD.