PFO tamponade is an effective and safe vitreous substitute

The perfluoro-n-octane (PFO) tamponade is a safe and effective short-term vitreous substitute in primary rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair, reveals a study in Retina

Dr Ryan Rush and his team, Sydney Eye Hospital, Australia, retrospectively analysed the charts of 39 eyes at 2-24 postoperative months after primary PFO retention. The second replacement was evaluated for anatomical attachment rates, visual acuity gain and postoperative complications.

The results demonstrated that 33 of 39 eyes had four or more retinal breaks - 31 of these eyes had at least one inferior break and 12 presented with preoperative proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

PFO was retained without posturing and all eyes showed full anatomical retinal attachment after primary vitrectomy for at least 7-17 days. The final anatomical success rate was 92.4% after perfluoropropane gas or siicone oil PFO exchange.

Visual acuity improved from 2.07 ± 0.86 to 0.76 ± 0.79 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution in macula-off and 0.11 ±0.08 to 0.12 ± 0.09 logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution in macula-on rhegmatogenous retinal detachment eyes.

Posterior capsular opacification was greatly increased due to PFO retention, without affecting the final retinal attachment success rate. The highest reattachment rates were made when perfluoropropane or silicone oil was swapped for PFO.