Choroidal vascular changes after encircling scleral buckling for rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

Background/objectives There is an ongoing debate on whether encircling scleral buckling (SB) procedure for the treatment of rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RRD) may cause an impairment in choroidal blood flow. The aim of this study was to compare choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) between eyes that had undergone encircling SB with unoperated fellow eyes (FEs). Subjects/methods Thirty patients treated with encircling SB for unilateral RRD were included. Demographic and clinical characteristics as well as enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography scans were retrospectively collected. Images were binarised using ImageJ software, total choroidal area along with luminal and stromal area (respectively, TCA, LA and SA) were segmented and the CVI was computed as the ratio of LA/TCA. In addition, CT was evaluated. Results The mean follow-up interval between surgery and examination was 25.5 +/- 16.8 months. Choroidal thickness, TCA, LA and SA were significantly increased in the operated eyes compared to FEs (respectively, 271.7 +/- 78.0 mu m vs. 238.5 +/- 83.4, P = 0.001; 1.804 +/- 0.491 mm(2) vs. 1.616 +/- 0.496, P = 0.001; 1.199 +/- 0.333 mm(2) vs. 1.067 +/- 0.337, P < 0.001 and 0.605 +/- 0.171 mm(2) vs. 0.550 +/- 0.171, P = 0.001). Conversely, CVI did not significantly differ between the two groups (66.4 +/- 3.6 vs. 65.9 +/- 3.2, P = 0.490). Conclusions In conclusion, eyes treated with encircling SB for RRD presented increased LA, SA and CT compared with FEs, but showed no difference in CVI.

Automated summary

This study compared choroidal vascularity index (CVI) and subfoveal choroidal thickness (CT) between eyes that had undergone encircling scleral buckling (SB) procedure and unoperated fellow eyes (FE). The results showed that eyes treated with encircling SB had increased choroidal thickness, total choroidal area, luminal area, and stromal area compared to fellow eyes, but there was no significant difference in CVI.