Adult retinopathy of prematurity - Outcomes of rhegmatogenous retinal detachments and retinal tears

Purpose: To describe the results of retinal tears and rhegmatogenous retinal detachments (RD) in adults with retinopathy of prematurity (ROP). Design: Noncomparitive interventional case series. Methods: Retrospective cohort of 216 eyes of 108 patients, 15 years or older, followed for up to 23 years (median, 6.2 years). Results: One eye was initially seen with an RD, and during follow-up 30 eyes had an RD develop. An additional surgical procedure was required in 7 of the 31 eyes (23%) with an RD. Four eyes were initially seen with retinal tears, and during follow-up 19 eyes had a retinal tear develop, Seven of the 23 eyes (30%) with a retinal tear had initial repair fail. Eyes with minimal cicatricial changes from ROP were still at high risk for tears and detachments developing. Eighty percent of eyes with retinal tears and 60% of eyes with an RD that started with vision > 20/60 maintained that level of vision at the final examination. Conclusion: In patients with a history of premature birth, features of fundus examinations do not correlate with the occurrence of a retinal tear or RD. Repair of a tear or detachment in such a patient is more likely to require multiple procedures but can still be associated with good visual results. Physicians should consider widespread relief of vitreoretinal traction for a tear or detachment in any patient with a history of premature birth.