360º retinectomy effective for retinal detachment

It has been demonstrated that virectomy with 360º retinectomy can be beneficial for the treatment of complex retinal detachments, from recent research published in Retina.

Dr Anton Kolomeyer et al., Institute of Ophthalmology and Visual Science, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, New Jersey, USA, reviewed the data of 41 eyes of 40 patients who underwent pars plana virectomy and 360º retinectomy for various reasons.

For 26 of the 41 eyes the main reason for surgery was retinal detachment after penetrating trauma. The outcome measures were complete retinal reattachment or attachment posterior to the scleral buckle. It was found that 11 eyes had recurrent retinal detachment and 7 received repeat pars plana virectomy with success in 6 of the eyes. The treatment was an anatomical success in 25 of 30 eyes and only 4 of the eyes had limited visual results.

The results show complex retinal detachment can be sufficiently managed by virectomy with 360º retinectomy.