Spontaneous Reattachment of Recurrent Retinal Detachment Due to Post-operative Proliferative Vitreoretinopathy

Abstract

We describe a case of recurrent retinal detachment due to postoperative proliferative vitreoretinopathy and spontaneous reattachment. A 48-year-old male who had undergone right cataract surgery 6 months earlier in a different centre presented with bilateral vision deficiency. Fundus examination revealed bilateral rhegmatogenous retinal detachment. We performed pars plana vitrectomy of the right eye, with 16% perfluoropropane gas endotamponade and pneumatic retinopexy of the left eye, with sulphur hexafluoride gas used as the endotamponade agent. Proliferative vitreoretinopathy and recurrent retinal detachment of the right eye occurred 9 weeks postoperatively. The retina reattached spontaneously in approximately 4 weeks. This case demonstrates that the retina can reattach spontaneously within a few weeks after spontaneous separation of tractional forces in recurrent retinal detachment due to post-vitrectomy proliferative vitreoretinopathy.