Functional and anatomical outcomes of vitreoretinal surgery for posterior segment complications after elective cataract surgery.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the outcomes in patients who required 1 or more vitreoretinal interventions for posterior segment complications arising from elective uneventful cataract surgery.


METHODS
Tertiary referral center, single-center study.


METHODS
A retrospective interventional case series included 56 consecutive patients who were referred for surgical correction of posterior segment complications within 6 months of cataract surgery. The study period was between 1996 and 2003, and the minimum follow-up was 5 months.


RESULTS
Posterior segment complications were resolved with a single surgical intervention in 40 cases (71.4%). Within 5 months of primary surgical correction, persisting or newly arising posterior segment complications were noted in 16 cases (28.6%). After a mean of 2.1 +/- 1.4 (SD) additional surgeries, the number of eyes with posterior segment problems decreased to 7 (12.5%) (P = .035). Posterior segment complications requiring more than 1 vitreoretinal intervention included retinal detachment, endophthalmitis, and choroidal hemorrhages. After primary correction surgery, the mean best corrected visual acuity increased from 0.15 +/- 0.24 to 0.37 +/- 0.33 (P = .001) after a single intervention and to 0.39 +/- 0.32 (P>.05) after additional interventions. Although the intraocular pressure (IOP) decreased from 21.8 +/- 16.6 mm Hg to 14.9 +/- 3.4 mm Hg (P = .008), 4 (7.1%) consecutive vascular optic atrophies occurred. A reduction in corneal transparency was observed in 46.4% of patients before primary surgical correction and 12.5% after primary surgical correction (P<.001).


CONCLUSIONS
In many cases, posterior segment complications arising from cataract surgery could be repaired with favorable functional and anatomical outcomes by a single vitreoretinal intervention. Additional surgery, if requested, provided stabilization of the anatomical and functional outcomes.
Garweg
Justus G
JG
Swiss Eye Institute and University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland. justus.garweg@eye-institute.ch
Moser
Frank
F
Kodjikian
Laurent
L
Halberstadt
Markus
M
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002387:Cataract Extraction; D002832:Choroid Hemorrhage / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D017558:Elective Surgical Procedures; D009877:Endophthalmitis / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007429:Intraocular Pressure; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012164:Retinal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology*; D014821:Vitrectomy