Effect of Duration of Macular Detachment on Visual Prognosis after Surgery for Macula-Off Retinal Detachment

Purpose: To evaluate the association between the duration of macular detachment (DMD) and visual prognosis in patients with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD).Design: Prospective observational cohort study.Participants: This study analyzed 719 eyes with macula-off rhegmatogenous RD registered with the Japan -Retinal Detachment Registry created by the Japan Retina and Vitreous Society.Methods: We included patients with macular detachment without a history of prior surgery, except cataract surgery and vitrectomy. Reoperation cases, hereditary RD, and macular hole RD were excluded. We compared the visual prognosis between patients with DMD of N days or less and those with DMD of N + 1 days or more (N = 2-5). For these 4 comparisons, the inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) methodology was employed, to balance 20 baseline characteristics between the shorter and longer DMD groups. The baseline characteristics included age, sex, axial length, baseline visual acuity, operative procedures, and detailed char-acteristics of RD. P-values < 0.01 were considered statistically significant.Main Outcome Measures: The best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA) 6 months after surgery.Results: The final analysis included 719 eyes. For all comparisons, the patients' backgrounds were well balanced after IPTW with standardized differences < 0.10. The IPTW regression analysis revealed that the BCVA after 6 months was significantly better after surgeries for DMD of < 2 days than that for DMD of > 3 days. Similarly, the 6-month BCVA for surgeries for DMD of < 3 days was significantly better than that for surgeries for DMD of > 4 days (differences in logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution: -0.113, P = 9.1 x 10-7; -0.076, P = 1.6 x 10-3 , respectively). On the other hand, there were no statistically significant differences for the other comparisons. Conclusions: Earlier surgical treatment within 3 days from the onset of macular detachment should be considered, after accounting for social circumstances, such as weekends.Financial Disclosure(s): The authors have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article. Ophthalmology Retina 2023;7:375-382 (c) 2023 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology

Automated summary

This study aimed to evaluate the association between the duration of macular detachment (DMD) and visual prognosis in patients with macula-off rhegmatogenous retinal detachment (RD). The results showed that surgical treatment within 3 days from the onset of macular detachment significantly improved visual prognosis.