Evaluation of S-cone Sensitivity in Reattached Macula Following Macula-Off Retinal Detachment Surgery

Abstract

To investigate the recovery of short-wavelength sensitivity in patients who had undergone successful reattachment of a rhegmatogenous retinal detachment with macular involvement. Postoperative assessment of the visual acuity and the visual fields by standard achromatic automated perimetry (SAP), and short-wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP, Humphrey visual field analyzer; macula test pattern) was performed on 12 patients after the macula was reattached. The follow-up period was up to 12 months. The visual acuity and SAP sensitivity recovered rapidly after reattachment, with further moderate improvements up to 6 months after reattachment. The improvements stabilized by 9 to 12 months. The SWAP sensitivities improved more slowly than the visual acuity or SAP sensitivities, but they continued to improve even when visual acuity or SAP sensitivities had stabilized. We conclude that measurement of the sensitivities of the short-wavelength-sensitive cones (S-cones) with SWAP may be a sensitive method to evaluate the visual recovery of the reattached macula following macula-off retinal detachment.