Correlation between morphological changes and functional outcomes of recent-onset macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment: prognostic factors in rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.

Purpose: To assess correlation between preoperative and postoperative findings and surgical factors, and postoperative functional outcomes after successful repair of acute macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD).

Methods: Forty-four eyes of 44 patients with recent-onset macula-off RRD who had primary pars plana vitrectomy were included in this retrospective study. Best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) and retinal and choroidal changes on spectral-domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) were evaluated before and after surgery. Correlation between preoperative and postoperative variables such as demographic and clinical data, SD-OCT findings and surgical factors, and postoperative functional outcomes were assessed.

Results: Eighteen women and 26 men, whose mean age at the onset of RRD was 51.7 ± 14.4 years, were evaluated. The mean preoperative and postoperative logMAR BCVA were 1.1 ± 0.5 (20/250) and 0.14 ± 0.1 (20/30), respectively, after a mean of 16.7 ± 7.2 months. Although all factors were evaluated as prognostic factors for functional outcome after surgical treatment of recent-onset macula-off RRD, epiretinal membrane formation was found as the only factor affecting postoperative visual acuity.

Conclusion: Satisfactory visual recovery can be achieved after a successful surgery in patients with acute RRD without any association with morphological changes such as increased subretinal fluid, central foveal thickness, subfoveal choroidal thickness, cystic spaces in the inner nuclear layer and/or outer nuclear layer, undulation of separated outer retina, and disruption of the photoreceptor layer. Epiretinal membrane formation may affect visual outcome in these patients.