Abstract
Background
Silicone oil (SO) is an established tamponade in treating complex vitreoretinal diseases. Although SO is intended to be removed after several weeks to months, permanent SO might be unavoidable in a small subgroup of patients with an extremely complicated clinical course. The aim of this study is to describe the long-term effects of intraocular SO tamponade.
Methods
This retrospective study included 50 patients with intraocular SO (Oxane 5700 Bausch & Lomb, Kingston-upon-Thames, UK) for at least 12 months. The most common reasons for long-term SO tamponade were: retinal re-detachment (re-RD), proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR), ocular trauma, and persistent hypotony.
Results
Mean age was 59.2 ± 18.4 years, and mean duration of silicone oil in the eye was 54.5 ± 58.6 months (median, 30 months). The average number of previous surgeries were 2.2 ± 1.5. Anatomic success was achieved in 37/50 (74%) of patients. Visual acuities (logMAR) were 1.8 ± 0.6, 1.6 ± 0.6, 2 ± 0.7 and intraocular pressures (mmHg) were 15.6 ± 7, 15.7 ± 5.5, 16.5 ± 7.1 at 3 months, 1 year and at last follow-up respectively. The main long-term silicone-oil-related complications observed were: band keratopathy (8%), corneal decompensation (12%), iris rubeosis (14%), and optic neuropathy (28%). Forty percent of patients achieved ambulatory vision in the SO-filled eye at final follow-up.
Conclusion
Long-term silicone oil can be a last-resort option in selected patients with severe vitreoretinal disease. Anterior and posterior segment complications did occur at significant rates. Forty percent of our patients maintained ambulatory vision. The actual number of patients that achieved satisfactory stereopsis and benefited functionally from long-term SO was much less [7/50 (14%)].
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Lakits A, Nennadal T, Scholda C, Knaus S, Gruber H (1999) Chemical stability of silicone oil in the human eye after prolonged clinical use. Ophthalmology 106:1091–1100
Lucke KH, Foerster MH, Laqua H (1987) Long-term results of vitrectomy and silicone oil in 500 cases of complicated retinal detachments. Am J Ophthalmol 104:624–633
Castellarin A, Grigorian R, Bhagat N, Del Priore L, Zarbin MA (2003) Vitrectomy with silicone oil infusion in severe diabetic retinopathy. Br J Ophthalmol 87:318–321
Karel I, Kalvodova B (1994) Long-term results of pars plana vitrectomy and silicone oil for complications of diabetic retinopathy. Eur J Ophthalmol 4:52–58
Szurman P, Roters S, Grisanti S, Aisenbrey S, Rohrbach JM, Warga M, Gelisken F, Spitzer MS, Bartz-Schmidt KU (2007) Primary silicone oil tamponade in the management of severe intraocular foreign body injuries: an 8-year follow-up. Retina 27:304–311
Carpineto P, Angelucci D, Nubile M, Colasante A, Di Antonio L, Ciancaglini M, Mastropasqua L (2006) Immunohistochemical findings in epiretinal membrane after long-term silicone oil tamponade: case report. Eur J Ophthalmol 16:887–890
Light DJ (2006) Silicone oil emulsification in the anterior chamber after vitreoretinal surgery. Optometry 77:446–449
Lucke K, Laqua H (1990) Silicone oil in the treatment of complicated retinal detachments: techniques, results, and complications. Springer, Berlin New York, pp 45–48
Avery RL, Fekrat S, Hawkins BS, Bressler NM (1996) Natural history of subfoveal subretinal hemorrhage in age-related macular degeneration. Retina 16:183–189
Lai WW, Wong D, Li KK, Leow PL (2008) Emulsification and inverted hypopyon formation of oxane HD in the anterior chamber. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 246:1633–1635
Larkin GB, Flaxel CJ, Leaver PK (1998) Phacoemulsification and silicone oil removal through a single corneal incision. Ophthalmology 105:2023–2027
Friberg TR, Guibord NM (1999) Corneal endothelial cell loss after multiple vitreoretinal procedures and the use of silicone oil. Ophthalmic Surg Lasers 30:528–534
Ichhpujani P, Jindal A, Jay Katz L (2009) Silicone oil induced glaucoma: a review. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 247:1585–1593
Patel AK, Zambarakji HJ, Charteris DG, Sullivan PM (2006) Suprachoroidal silicone oil: recognition and possible mechanisms. Eye (Lond) 20:854–856
Eller AW, Friberg TR, Mah F (2000) Migration of silicone oil into the brain: a complication of intraocular silicone oil for retinal tamponade. Am J Ophthalmol 129:685–688
Cazabon S, Groenewald C, Pearce IA, Wong D (2005) Visual loss following removal of intraocular silicone oil. Br J Ophthalmol 89:799–802
Shen YD, Yang CM (2007) Extended silicone oil tamponade in primary vitrectomy for complex retinal detachment in proliferative diabetic retinopathy: a long-term follow-up study. Eur J Ophthalmol 17:954–960
Ashton N (1957) Retinal vascularization in health and disease: Proctor Award Lecture of the Association for Research in Ophthalmology. Am J Ophthalmol 44:7–17
Rinkoff JS, de Juan E, Jr McCuen BW 2nd (1986) Silicone oil for retinal detachment with advanced proliferative vitreoretinopathy following failed vitrectomy for proliferative diabetic retinopathy. Am J Ophthalmol 101:181–186
Knecht P, Groscurth P, Ziegler U, Laeng HR, Jaggi GP, Killer HE (2007) Is silicone oil optic neuropathy caused by high intraocular pressure alone? A semi-biological model. Br J Ophthalmol 91:1293–1295
Sugar HS, Okamura ID (1976) Ocular findings six years after intravitreal silicone injection. Arch Ophthalmol 94:612–615
Yeo JH, Glaser BM, Michels RG (1987) Silicone oil in the treatment of complicated retinal detachments. Ophthalmology 94:1109–1113
Andermatten R, Gonvers M (1993) Sophisticated vitreoretinal surgery in patients with a healthy fellow eye. An 11-year retrospective study. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 231:495–499
Colenbrander MC (1948) The limits of stereoscopic vision. Ophthalmologica 115:363–366
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
The authors do not have any financial disclosures. All authors have full control of primary data, and they agree to allow Graefe’s Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology to review their data upon request.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Morphis, G., Irigoyen, C., Eleuteri, A. et al. Retrospective review of 50 eyes with long-term silicone oil tamponade for more than 12 months. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 250, 645–652 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-011-1873-8
Received:
Revised:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-011-1873-8