Comparison of Perfluorodecalin and Silicone Oil as Initial Tamponade for Giant Retinal Tear-Associated Retinal Detachment

Introduction: To compare visual outcomes and complication rates of giant retinal tear-associated retinal detachment (GRT-RD) cases treated with short-term perfluorodecalin (PFD) tamponade versus silicone oil (SiO). Methods: Database analysis of patients with GRT-RD operated on in the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2019. Results: Forty-five patients were operated for GRT-RD using PFD or SiO during this period. Two children, 7 patients receiving gas tamponade, and 2 lost to follow-up were excluded. Eighteen eyes (40%) received PFD and 27 (60%) received SiO. There were 15/18 (83%) macula-sparing cases in the PFD group and 18/27 (67%) in the SiO group (p = 0.13). The mean duration of oil tamponade was 91 days for SiO and 7.6 days for PFD (p < 0.0001). The mean length of follow-up was 274.5 days for PFD and 668.9 days for SiO. The mean BCVA was 6/18 (63.4 +/- 26.0 ETDRS letters) for SiO and 6/12 (72.9 +/- 12.7 ETDRS letters) for PFD (p = 0.42). Analysing macula-sparing pseudophakic eyes, the BCVA was 6/12 (67.4 +/- 25.9 letters, n = 18) for SiO eyes and 6/9 (76.8 +/- 9.9 letters, n = 11) for PFD eyes (p = 0.54). The recurrence rate was 22% (6/27) for SiO and 6% (1/18) for PFD (p = 0.12). The rate of cystoid macular oedema (CMO) was 22% for SiO and 22% for PFD. Epiretinal membrane (ERM) was found in 26% of SiO cases and 22% of PFD cases. Loss of vision after oil removal was not observed. Seven eyes (26%) receiving SiO and none receiving PFD developed chronic ocular hypertension (OHT) (p = 0.02). Conclusions: Short-term tamponade with PFD for GRT-RD appears similar to tamponade with SiO in terms of the visual outcomes and complication rates.