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Vision loss under silicone oil tamponade

  • Retinal Disorders
  • Published:
Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

We aimed to investigate frequency, time course and pathophysiology of vision loss in eyes with macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment operated with vitrectomy and silicone oil tamponade.

Patients and methods

Fifteen eyes of 15 patients who had been operated with 5,000 centistoke silicone oil between 2006 and 2014 were included in a retrospective case series. Examinations included logMAR best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), visual field testing (VF), spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT), electrophysiology, and fluorescein angiography.

Results

Vision loss was seen in eight (53 %) eyes of 15 patients with symptomatic central scotoma, which was confirmed by VF (5/6). Preoperative median BCVA of these patients was 0.15 (0.5 to 0), prior to oil removal 0.7 (1.0 to 0.5), and 6 weeks post oil removal 1.0 (1.5 to 0.2). BCVA recovered in five patients to a median of 0.15 (0.5 to 0.1), and it remained 1.0 in three (20 %) out of 15 eyes. OCT revealed significant thinning of the foveal and parafoveal combined nerve fiber, ganglion cell and inner plexiform layers in affected eyes (mean 58.3 μm +/−13, horizontal scan through fovea, 500 μm radius) compared to their healthy fellow eyes (mean 84.5 μm +/−12.3; p < 0.01, n = 6 patients, 12 eyes) and compared to eyes with no vision loss under silicone oil.

Conclusions

We find persisting vision loss in three out of 15 patients treated for macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with silicone oil tamponade. Thinning of inner retinal layers possibly evoked by silicone oil tamponade might be a pathophysiological explanation for vision loss in these patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, University Medical Center, Arnold-Heller-Strasse 3, 24105, Kiel, Germany

    Jan Tode, Konstantine Purtskhvanidze, Till Oppermann, Jost Hillenkamp, Felix Treumer & Johann Roider

Authors
  1. Jan Tode
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  2. Konstantine Purtskhvanidze
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  3. Till Oppermann
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  4. Jost Hillenkamp
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  5. Felix Treumer
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  6. Johann Roider
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jan Tode.

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Funding

The study was funded internally by the department’s research budget. No external or third party funding was received for this study. The authors have nothing to disclose.

Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership, or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements), or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tode, J., Purtskhvanidze, K., Oppermann, T. et al. Vision loss under silicone oil tamponade. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 254, 1465–1471 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-016-3405-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-016-3405-z

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