Optical coherence tomography reveals retinal degeneration from persistent submacular fluid after pneumatic retinopexy for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment.
OBJECTIVE
To report a case of retinal degeneration associated with long-standing submacular fluid.


METHODS
Observational case report.


RESULTS
A 64-year-old African American woman with hand motion vision was found to have a macula-involving rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD). Following an otherwise successful repair by pneumatic retinopexy, a small puddle of subretinal fluid persisted in the macula, limiting her vision to 20/70 at 1 month's time. Refusing further intervention, she experienced visual decline to 20/200 2 months postoperatively due to retinal degeneration seen as progressive retinal thinning and irregularity of the outer neurosensory retina on optical coherence tomography.


CONCLUSIONS
Although the literature suggests that submacular fluid following RRD repair by scleral buckle does not affect visual acuity, persistent submacular fluid may result in progressive retinal degeneration with concomitant vision loss as early as 2 months following repair.
From the *Department of Ophthalmology, University of South Carolina, Columbia, South Carolina; and †Retina Associates, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Thomas J
TJ
Federici
Ronald L
RL
Willson
Kurt A
KA
Gitter