Relationship between presence of foveal bulge in optical coherence tomographic images and visual acuity after rhegmatogenous retinal detachment repair.

Abstract

To determine whether a significant correlation exists between the presence of a bulge in the photoreceptor inner segment/outer segment line and the best-corrected visual acuity in eyes after successful rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) repair. Patients who had undergone successful RRD repair and had an intact inner segment/outer segment line at the central fovea in the spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic images were retrospectively studied. Thirty-five eyes of 35 patients were evaluated, and the eyes were classified preoperatively into those with macula-on RRD (n = 14) and those with macula-off RRD (n = 21). Examination of the spectral-domain optical coherence tomographic images of normal eyes showed that the inner segment/outer segment line has a bulge at the central fovea. The 35 eyes with successful retinal reattachment were classified by the presence or absence of foveal bulge. The presence of foveal bulge differed significantly between macula-on RRD (100%) and macula-off RRD group (28.6%; P < 0.0001). In the macula-off RRD group, the best-corrected visual acuity was significantly better in eyes with a foveal bulge than in eyes without a foveal bulge (P = 0.0028). The foveal bulge is a good marker to determine the functional properties of the fovea in eyes with successful RRD repair.