Long-term visual recovery after scleral buckling for macula-off retinal detachments

The authors retrospectively investigated the long-term visual recovery in 32 macular reattached eyes that had been monitored for more than 5 years after surgery. The best corrected visual acuities were better at 5 years postoperatively than at 3 months by two lines or more in 17 eyes (53%). In these 17 eyes, visual acuities continued to improve for up to 10 years after surgery. In the other 15 eyes, the visual acuities remained within one line of the 3-month values. Improvement of the long-term postoperative visual acuity was found to be statistically correlated with younger age, no or mild myopia (>-5 diopters), and shorter duration of macular detachment (less than or equal to 30 days). Surgeons should be aware that the visual function of reattached retinas may continue to improve over the long term, especially when these beneficial factors are present. (C) 1998 Japanese Ophthalmological Society.