Aqueous flare is a major risk factor for PVR redetachment

Preoperative aqueous flare is a significant risk factor for proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) redetachment in patients with rhegmatogenous retinal detachment, according to a paper published in Retina.

Dr Sabine Schröder et al., Department of Vitreo-Retinal Surgery and Institute of Medical Statistics, Informatics and Epidemiology, Center of Ophthalmology, University of Cologne, Germany, preoperatively measured the aqueous flare of 116 consecutive patients with retinal detachment.

A laser flare-cell meter was used to conduct aqueous flare measurements. The control group consisted of 74 healthy eyes of 41 healthy age-matched patients. Six month postoperatively, patients were re-evaluated to determine whether surgery should be repeated due to PVR redetachment.

Higher flare values were found in eyes with retinal detachment that had developed PVR redetachment, compared to eyes with uneventful retinal detachment. All eyes with PVR redetachment had a flare value of over 10.8 photon counts per millisecond. In eyes with flare values of over 15 photon counts per millisecond the chances of PVR redetachment was found to increase 16 times.

The breakdown of the blood-ocular barrier, as determined by aqueous flare, presented as a major PVR redetachment risk factor. It was also found that the laser flare-cell meter is a non-invasive, efficient and safe device that enables the prediction of preoperative PVR redetachment risk.