IS SURGERY FOR PROLIFERATIVE VITREORETINOPATHY JUSTIFIABLE

Surgery for proliferative vitreoretinopathy (PVR) may require prolonged procedures often with limited improvement in visual function. Forty-seven consecutive aptients who had PVR surgery in one eye had a case note review to assess anatomical re-attachment rate and improvement in visual acuity. All patients had at lest 3 clock-hours of grade C PVR membrane. Surgery comprised vitrectomy and membrane peel in all cases. There was a mean follow-up period of 9 months (range 3-23 months). Thirty-two eyes (68%) had an attached retina with the mean visual acuity being 0.089 (where 6/60 = 0.10). A mean of 2.15 PVR operations were performed per eye. Seventeen patients chosen at random were contacted by telephone and standardised questions were asked regarding their surgery. Eleven (65%) patients stated that, with the benefit of hindsight, they would still have had surgery and 8 (47%) patients stateed that the peripheral vision gained was of benefit.