Study details visual acuity outcomes following repair of uncomplicated rhegmatogenous retinal detachments

A number of factors can affect the visual acuity outcomes after surgical repair of uncomplicated rhegmatogenous retinal detachments. (Image Credit: AdobeStock/kkolosov)

Reviewed by Sally S. Ong, MD

A number of factors can affect the visual acuity (VA) outcomes after surgical repair of uncomplicated rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RRDs).

In a new study from the Wilmer Eye Institute, socioeconomic disadvantage, as reflected by the Area Deprivation Index (ADI), was shown to be an independent predictor of visual outcomes at 1 year,” according to Sally S. Ong, MD, an assistant professor of Ophthalmology at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. She discussed her findings at the Vit-Buckle Society Meeting.

Ong and colleagues undertook a retrospective study¹ of patients who underwent primary repair of uncomplicated RRDs at the Wilmer Eye Institute to examine the baseline, surgical and postoperative characteristics that affect best-corrected VA (BCVA) outcomes. All patients were followed for at least 1 year.

The analysis showed that the baseline BCVA, time from presentation to repair, type of primary surgery, single surgery anatomic success, postoperative cystoid macular edema and lens status were associated with VA outcomes after repair of RRD. These characteristics have also been shown in other studies to be associated with visual outcomes.

“However,” Ong said, “a novel finding was that the national ADI scores were an independent predictor of visual outcomes at 1 year.”

Ong explained that the area deprivation index or ADI allows for rankings of neighborhoods by socioeconomic disadvantage in a region of interest, and that it includes factors for the theoretical domains of income, education, employment, and housing quality. The higher the ADI scores, the greater the amount of socioeconomic disadvantage.

In their study, groups with higher ADI scores included patients who identify as African-Americans, have no health insurance, have a history of trauma, have worse presenting BCVA, have longer time between presentation to surgery, particularly those with foveal involving detachments, and presented with foveal involving detachments and greater extent of detachment . “Even though single surgery anatomic success did not differ between patients across ADI scores, patients with higher ADI scores had worse BCVA at the 1 year follow up.”

Sally S. Ong, MD

E: song@wakehealth.edu

Ong is a consultant to EyePoint Pharmaceutical.

Reference:

1. Ong SS, Ahmed I, Gonzales A, et al. Management of uncomplicated rhegmatogenous retinal detachments: a comparison of practice patterns and clinical outcomes in a real-world setting. Eye (Lond).2023;37:684-91. doi: 10.1038/s41433-022-02028-z.