Changes in higher-order aberrations after scleral buckling surgery for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.
OBJECTIVE
To evaluate changes in higher-order aberrations (HOAs) after scleral buckling surgery for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD).


METHODS
Prospective observational comparative case series.


METHODS
The study included 67 eyes of 67 rhegmatogenous RD patients undergoing scleral buckling surgery, and the fellow normal eyes comprised the control group. Twenty-seven eyes were treated with the segmental buckling procedure and 40 eyes received the encircling buckling procedure alone.


METHODS
Hartmann-Shack wavefront analysis was performed at 2 weeks, 1 month, and 3 months postoperatively.


METHODS
Time course of changes in HOAs.


RESULTS
Scleral buckling surgery significantly increased HOAs at 2 weeks (P<0.0001), 1 month (P<0.0005), and 3 months (P<0.05) postoperatively as compared with the control group. At 3 months postoperatively, the HOAs were significantly lower in the encircling group than in the segmental buckling group (P<0.05). The vertical coma (Zernike Z(3)(-1)) became negative (significantly lower than zero, P<0.01) in patients who received segmental buckling in the upper quadrant. The ocular HOAs and logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution best-corrected visual acuity significantly correlated at 3 months postoperatively (third-order root mean square [RMS]: r = 0.445, P<0.0005; fourth-order RMS: r = 0.489, P<0.0001).


CONCLUSIONS
Scleral buckling surgery significantly increased HOAs. The segmental buckling procedure increased the HOAs to a greater extent and for a longer duration than the encircling procedure. The direction of coma aberration corresponded to the location of the segmental buckle. The increase in HOAs can be one of the factors responsible for visual disturbances after scleral buckling surgery.
Okamoto
F
F
Department of Ophthalmology, Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, Japan. Fumiki-o@md.tsukuba.ac.jp
Yamane
N
N
Okamoto
C
C
Hiraoka
T
T
Oshika
T
T
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012029:Refraction, Ocular; D012030:Refractive Errors / Q000209:etiology*; D012163:Retinal Detachment / Q000601:surgery*; D012591:Scleral Buckling / Q000009:adverse effects*; D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride / Q000008:administration & dosage; D014792:Visual Acuity
D013459:Sulfur Hexafluoride