Comparative assessment of intraocular inflammation following standard or heavy silicone oil tamponade: a prospective study

Purpose To evaluate the inflammation associated with the use of standard silicone oil (polydimethylsiloxane; PDMS) and heavy silicone oil (HSO) Densiron-68 (TM) in patients undergoing vitrectomy for retinal detachment. Materials and Methods A prospective study was performed involving 35 patients scheduled to undergo vitrectomy for retinal detachment. Patients received PDMS or Densiron-68 (TM) HSO according to superior or inferior retinal localization of the tears, respectively. For assessing the inflammation, prostaglandin E2 (PGE(2)) and interleukin-1 alpha (IL-1 alpha) levels were evaluated in the aqueous. Results Thirty-five eyes of 35 patients completed the study: 20 eyes received HSO, and 15 eyes received PDMS. The mean aqueous PGE(2) level was significantly higher in HSO patients than in PDMS patients (869.16 +/- 242.83 pg/ml versus 369.38 +/- 209.7 pg/ml, respectively; p < 0.0001). The mean aqueous IL-1 alpha level was also significantly higher in HSO patients than in PDMS patients (81.40 +/- 36.9 pg/ml versus 40.8 +/- 32.5 pg/ml, respectively; p = 0.002). In HSO, a moderate positive correlation between the endotamponade duration and both PGE(2) (r = 0.44; p = 0.05) and IL-1 alpha (r = 0.48; p = 0.033) levels was observed. In PDMS, a strong positive correlation between the endotamponade duration and both PGE(2) (r = 0.89; p < 0.0001) and IL-1 alpha (r = 0.68; p = 0.006) levels was observed. Conclusion Although both HSO and PDMS yielded favourable success rates in the surgical treatment of complicated retinal detachments, HSO triggered a more severe inflammatory reaction, in a time-dependent manner.