title: Outcomes of 195 consecutive patients undergoing 2-port pars plana vitrectomy with slit-lamp illumination system for posterior segment disease: a retrospective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the safety and efficacy of 2-port 20-gauge pars plana vitrectomy with a slit-lamp illumination system in different vitreoretinal pathologies.
  
  
  METHODS
  : Retrospective, consecutive, interventional case series.
  
  
  METHODS
  One hundred and ninety-five consecutive eyes of 195 patients underwent 20-gauge 2-port pars plana vitrectomy with a combination of slit-lamp illumination and a plano-concave contact lens, at the San Paolo Ophthalmology Center, from September 2005 through November 2007. Postoperative visual acuity at baseline and at 1, 3, and 6 months; intraoperative and postoperative complication rate; and surgical time were evaluated.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All patients completed 6 months of follow-up. The mean overall visual acuity was 0.74 ± 0.03 (mean ± SD) at baseline, improving to 0.56 ± 0.03 (P < 0.0001), 0.48 ± 0.03 (P < 0.0001), and 0.43 ± 0.03 (P < 0.0001) at 1, 3, and 6 months, respectively. No intraoperative complications occurred. Postoperative complications included retinal detachment in three patients, epiretinal membrane recurrence in three eyes, persistent macular hole in four eyes, and phthisis in one eye. Cataract formation was observed in 25 eyes. The total mean surgical time was 28.3 ± 10.1 minutes. No one had hypotony after the surgical procedure, and no cases of endophthalmitis were observed. Conversion to standard three-port vitrectomy was not necessary in any of the cases.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Two-port 20-gauge pars plana vitrectomy with slit-lamp illumination is a safe and effective procedure for posterior segment surgeries.
authors.affiliation: San Paolo Ophthalmic Center, San Antonio Hospital, Padova, Italy. marco.tav@libero.it
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tavolato
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Lo Giudice
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cian
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Galan
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019773:Epiretinal Membrane / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D005451:Fluorescein Angiography; D006801:Humans; D008029:Lighting / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009216:Myopia / Q000150:complications; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012167:Retinal Perforations / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012170:Retinal Vein Occlusion / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012599:Sclerostomy; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D014821:Vitrectomy / Q000379:methods*