Objective To observe the changes of retinal morphology and function of macular-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) after scleral bulking. Methods In this prospective study, 42 eyes of 41 patients who underwent scleral bulking were enrolled. There were 26 males (27 eyes) and 15 females (15 eyes), with an average age of (33.78±11.21) years. Best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), intraocular pressure, indirect ophthalmoscope, visual fields, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and B scan of ocular ultrasound were measured for all patients. The average BCVA was 0.29±0.18. The retinal detachment time was (21.12±3.71) days. The mean visual field defect (MD) was (13.54±6.44) dB. The mean loss variance (LV) was (8.43±2.11) dB. All the patients were performed cryotherapy and sub-choroidal fluid drain out. The mean follow-up was 12.4 months (from 6 to 24 months). At two weeks, 1, 3, 6, 12 months after surgery, the changes of BCVA, visual fields, retinal morphology and subretinal fluid were observed. Results Indirect ophthalmoscope combined with B scan showed the time of retinal reattachment was (7.32±2.53) days. Subretinal fluid was found completely absorbed by OCT with a mean of (7.82±3.52) months. At 12 months after surgery, subretinal fluid was completely absorbed in 37 eyes (88.10%). In these 37 eyes, 15 eyes had normal retinal microstructure, 5 eyes had neuroepithelial cystoid edema; 12 eyes had disrupted inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) junction, and 5 eyes had disrupted IS/OS and external limiting membrane (ELM). BCVA at 6 months after surgery was no significant difference with that at 12 months after surgery (t=-0.636, P=0.529). At 12 months after surgery, there were 4 retinal patterns on OCT examination, including normal retinal microstructure, neuroepithelial cystoid edema, IS/OS line disruption, and IS/OS and ELM disruption. The BCVA difference among these 4 groups was significant (F=52.42, P < 0.05). The BCVA difference between eyes with or without residual subretinal fluid was significant (t=-5.747, P=0.000). At 1, 2 weeks and 1, 3, 6, 12 months after surgery, the MD were (11.38±2.53), (10.14±2.19), (9.17±2.13), (6.63±1.70), (5.71±1.89), (5.14±1.69) dB respectively, with a significant difference between these time-points (F=63.528, P=0.00). However, the MD at 6 months after surgery was no significant difference with that at 12 months after surgery (t=1.442, P=0.157). At 12 months after surgery, there were 12 eyes with normal MD, 30 eyes with higher MD. There was no significant difference between surgery eyes with higher MD and fellow eyes in MD (t=-1.936, P=0.06). The MD value was positively correlated to the time of retinal detachment in patients with normal retinal microstructure (r=0.84, P=0.00). There were differences in LV during different periods after surgery (F=57.25, P=0.00). Conclusions The retinal microstructure, visual acuity, visual fields were gradually improved after scleral bulking. The patients had better vision with normal retinal microstructure. The time of retinal detachment positively correlated with visual fields damage.

Citation： MengXuxia, ZhouXianhui, LiuPenghui. The retinal morphology and function after scleral bulking on macular-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. Chinese Journal of Ocular Fundus Diseases, 2014, 30(4): 348-351. doi: 10.3760/cma.j.issn.1005-1015.2014.04.004 Copy